#nope it's from 2000 lol

[sunskate]

VM show: ep 4

they're serious and focused before the FD, but it feels a little heavy, so he lightens it up and gets her to laugh a little

she responds playfully to his Crouching Tiger joke and is straight up cheesing she's smiling so big when she does her lil martial arts pose

but was he disappointed she didn't laugh? "i was trying to be funny" (it wasn't that funny 😅)

but her "trying? succeeding" seems sincere - she seems aware that he's lifting her mood in a stressful moment - look at this smile

and maybe for a moment he forgets the camera crew that's following them around looking for the dramatic lighting like this lol

[orionsangel86]

I watched X-Men 2000 tonight. Yup the Deadpool and Wolverine brain worms got me - at least for a little while - so I figured I'd rewatch the old movies that I havent seen in over a decade and have basically forgotten entirely at this point.

You know what really stunned me? Even more than the slow pace, serious tone, actual dedication to telling a coherent and interesting story with layers of meaning and social commentary attached to it, as well as a sincerity that's been missing from most superhero films since the MCU was born (thanks Josh Whedon).

Nope, what shocked me most was this:

This is a perfect specimen of a man. Look at him. He's gorgeous. But look at his chest? His arms? He's muscular, he's pretty well toned, he's hairy. He's definitely got a six pack - but it's nicely covered by a healthy layer of fat. His skin is plump, he has a bit of squish to him. He'd probably be great to hug (Jean Grey certainly gives him a good squeeze lol).

When he sits down he looks like his stomach will roll just nicely. Like a stomach should.

I know my point here is obvious. It's just that scrolling the Deadpool and Wolvering tag is basically 50% "oh they definitely fucked in the Honda Odyssey" (yes lol) and the other 50% is just horny posting over Wolverine's topless scene like the entire site suddenly adopted Deadpools horny brain.

I gotta give props to Hugh Jackman for his dedication to turn himself into an actual comic book character - because that's what this new movie does. It gives us a comic accurate Wolverine in practically every way (except for his height lol) the suit is amazing, the cowl was a joy to see brought into live action. The body too though was straight out of a comic book artists male power fantasy.

What I wanted to emphasise was that this:

Is extremely tough on the human body. What I wanna know is how long he starved and dehydrated himself for before filming this scene? How long before they shot this did he last drink some water? Because damn that must have been tough. The oil and the lighting probably help further emphasise the muscle, vein, and sinew definition. It's probably similar to how body builders prepare before a show.

Nothing about body building is healthy though. So in the coming weeks as the whole entertainment industry rides on the coat tales of this movies success, and everyone goes crazy over Hugh Jackmans physique, please don't feel pressured into thinking that his 2024 physique in the movie is remotely realistic - or realistically attractive. Like I get the fantasy sure, but come on. I'd personally rather lie on a cushioned bed than a concrete floor.

Deadpool may disagree with me, but he's a masochist lol.

Oh and whilst I stand by the shade I threw at the MCU above, I think Wolverine's different physiques in the movies is a good standard of comparison for how much superhero movies have changed. Because when superhero comics first started getting adapted I think a lot of the choices made were about how to bring them to live action realistically and believably and the attitude was to try not to make them look ridiculous. The first X-Men movies definitely do this.

It was about bringing the comics to life in a way that fit in our world. But over the years, as audiences got more and more used to comic book movies the movies became more and more like comic books and less like a realistic adaptation of a comic book. Does that make sense? So as the movies attempted to bring the comics to life in a way that was less realistic and more comic accurate, the demands on the actors to sculpt their physiques to meet the standards of comic book art became normalised.

I think Deadpool and Wolverine is the MOST comic book accurate of all superhero movies made in the past 2 decades. Half the time the images from the movie look like they could be literally pulled from the pages of the comic books. The story is convoluted and stupid, the plot is barely there and is full of gaping plot holes and elements that don't fit any past stories. The action is ridiculous, extremely fast paced, gratuitous, and violent to a hilarious level. But it's so entertaining, joyful, exciting, and laugh out loud hilarious throughout.

It reminded me a LOT of my attempts at reading through the Deadpool comics (I've read a lot of them but no where near all of them).

To sum up this rambling message with multiple points, I'll say that Deadpool and Wolverine is a really fun movie that I thoroughly enjoyed, but make no mistake there is nothing real in it at all. It is almost literally a comic on screen. Don't expect anything more than that and you'll enjoy the experience.

[unhonouredone]

𝘍𝘐𝘟𝘐𝘕𝘎 𝘐𝘛 - Introductions: TOKYO

𝙢𝙪𝙡𝙩𝙞𝙥𝙡𝙚!𝙟𝙟𝙠 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙭 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙚𝙧 𝙎𝙈𝘼𝙐

series masterlist

last part: KYOTO | next part: Chapter 1

Ah...yes the two very responsible and adult teachers at Tokyo Jujutsu High

(Well Geto is quite mature but we know he is quite the menace as well when he wants to be)

Nanami is not an official teacher but since he is Yuji's mentor, he was permitted and begged to be in the school group chat!

As we know Y/n ain't quite the fan of Gojo (hmm...nope still no clue why!) BUT he seems to be oblivious to the reasoning (as well as delusional to a point)

Everyone else knows tho

Nanami and Y/n were very close classmates and friends before Nanami left to live his normal life for a while. Y/n soon after left to Kyoto, but they have been keeping in touch! Perhaps this is a good opportunity to reconnect more since they'll soon both be looking after Yuji now, hm?

Geto and Y/n were never THAT close but still okay friends until things started escalating in the late 2000s (yk what)

Let's for now say that Geto owes a lot of gratitude to Y/n

Gojo tried to follow Y/n like 10+ times a day for some time but got blocked (he still thinks Y/n stalks his profile)

Nanami has an ig because Yuji pestered him long and hard! He only posted a picture of his favourite bakery. All the follows came from Yuji who had tagged Nanami's hand in a picture lol

Geto posts like once in a blue moon. All his followers are praying and manifesting for a proper selfie.

The Tokyo students aren't the biggest fans of their Kyoto counterparts BUT!! The second years swear up and down that their cool and quirky teacher is not bad at all!

Megumi actually is the only student who is allowed to follow Y/n because le gasp! They were pretty present when Gojo took Megumi and Tsumiki as his hosta- foster kids. Yeah lol Until 2011 of course (Y/n and Megumi meet up pretty frequently, but Megumi won't tell that to Gojo, or even Geto for that matter)

Yuji and Nobara are very excited to meet Y/n!! It's like their meeting an idol or a mystical being (Toge and Panda are really selling it)

Yuji, Megumi and Nobara all have matching pfps! Again we may see how persistent Yuji can be lol

Nobara would have much rather matched with Maki but alas...

Toge loves trolling😭 his account is mostly ironic content but sometimes he posts some genuine things

Panda got famous because people thought his account was a panda [species] fan account...

A/n: UGH sorry this took me longer than intended😭 BUT yesterday we finally wrapped up a huge 6 month project and I also held my presentation to show what I've learned during the last year (got the perfect score hahaha) Summer is almost here so I can focus on this story pretty well!!!＼(^_^)／ ANYWAY as you can see SUGURU IS HERE🙏 We will also be meeting more characters as we go and some of them might be surprising, others not! Hope you are hooked~

[fantastic-nonsense]

i usually don’t get into these discussions lol they’re too much trouble, but on your nightwing run rankings i honestly think it’s crazy to call devin’s run objectively bad when it’s kind of THE nightwing mythos, so many writers after were trying to do what she did. taylor’s run is entirely based off hers, some moments beat for beat, and watters is taking notes from her as well.

Also because of fandom and corporate misogyny most people hate her for reasons that are outright lies or exaggerations, so that adds to the stigma around her run with younger readers wanting to avoid it, but it is quite good

I think her Nightwing run is bad because I've read it. Her sexualization and fetishization of Dick is gross, her characterization of Dick was mid, her characterization of Babs is horrible, her approach to writing both Dick and Catalina Flores was incredibly racist, most of her plot was just trauma porn, and she spent nearly all of her 45 issues on the book destroying everything narratively that had been built up by the previous several years of writing. And this is not even touching the way she handled the rape and rape aftermath issues.

As I stated in the original ranking, there are redeeming features: her early issues with Rick Leonardi, before Catalina shows up, are much better than anything she wrote after he left the book. The transition from Dixon to Devin's run was handled well and she competently finished all of Dixon's plot threads before doing her own thing. The Renegade arc is not an objectively good piece of writing, but it's enjoyable to read and has some top-tier comedy in it re: Dick and Slade's interactions. The Wally-Babs scene after she and Dick broke up was lovely. She writes Dick and Tim's relationship well. None of those things outweigh how bad and genuinely unpleasant Devin's Nightwing run is to read overall.

As for the rest of your comments:

it’s kind of THE nightwing mythos, so many writers after were trying to do what she did.

"THE Nightwing mythos" as we concieve of it today was actually created by Chuck Dixon. Despite his other crimes (and there are many), Dixon remains the man who created Bludhaven, moved Dick there, and did the worldbuilding necessary to make a Nightwing solo work in the first place. Everything every modern Nightwing writer does ultimately goes back to something Dixon did in the 1990s when he had near complete control over Dick Grayson's character.

In fact, every writer since Dixon has struggled with the book in part because Devin Grayson spent her 45 issues on the book systematically tearing down the foundation Dixon built (Dick's supporting cast, his rogues gallery, his relationship with Barbara, his life in general, etc) instead of building on top of it, and no one's been able to properly been able to create a new foundation since.

Like, "so many writers after her were trying to do what she did" is a HILARIOUS statement to make considering that most of Dick's writers since then (excluding Tom Taylor) generally do everything they can to ignore as much of what she wrote as feasibly possible. Are we ever bringing up Tarantula again? NOPE! Are we ever bringing up the mob infiltration arc again? NOPE! Are we ever bringing up that Haly's Circus burned to the ground and his apartment building got blown up and he got shot twice and that he stood aside and let Catalina kill Blockbuster? NOPE! The list goes on.

taylor’s run is entirely based off hers, some moments beat for beat, and watters is taking notes from her as well.

Bringing up Tom Taylor's run is also funny because I've actually discussed at length before how if you read Devin’s run and Taylor’s run back to back, you realize Taylor is basically just rewriting her run "BUT I CAN DO IT BETTER!!!" Blockbuster's back in town and a big deal again, DickBabs are suddenly together again despite them having been broken up since Devin's run in the mid-2000s, Dick's trying to clean up Bludhaven from the inside again (though as a philanthropist instead of a cop), Tim and Wally are randomly popping up in guest issues…he basically soft-rebooted Dick back to the Dixon era so he could write his fun little self-indulgent fanfic of what could have happened if Devin hadn’t taken over the book and destroyed Dick's life.

Which is one of the many reasons I ranked Taylor's run significantly higher than Devin's run. I prefer bland mediocrity and Taylor's ignorant #resistlib attempts to address the roots of crime to dealing with the "absolutely worst year of Dick Grayson's life" arc, and if I'm going to get Babs character assassination either way, I'd rather her be a bland supportive girlfriend than clingy and codependent at best and actively hostile at worst.

As for Watters, per his own statements what he's taking from Devin's run is the fallout from Chemo nuking Bludhaven (which happened because of Infinite Crisis and was not actually Devin's decision) and the Dick-Babs dynamic from her issues with Leonardi (which. again. are her best issues because she was basically just wrapping up Dixon's run and hadn't had time to blow anything up yet). More relevantly, he said that Snyder's The Black Mirror, Morrison's Batman and Robin (2009), and Dick's tenure as Batman in general are much more influential in terms of how he characterizes Dick and that he loves what Sam Humphries did in his short run to add depth to Bludhaven as a city. That's not exactly taking notes from Devin lmao.

because of fandom and corporate misogyny most people hate her for reasons that are outright lies or exaggerations, so that adds to the stigma around her run with younger readers wanting to avoid it

Devin is not a uniformly bad writer. I genuinely enjoy her Titans (1999) run and the first few arcs of Gotham Knights (2000). She wrote a solid Stephanie Brown in the opening issue of War Games, and was apparently against killing her off. I think generally when she has to balance team dynamics and is not writing Her Personal Blorbo™ that she trauma dumps onto and self-therapizes through, many of the problems I have with her Nightwing run are largely mitigated or minimized. But she fundamentally cannot be trusted with writing Dick Grayson unless he's in a group title and not in a romantic relationship, and her Nightwing run is case in point as to why.

Anyway. I will never forgive and I will never forget her explicitly stated reasoning for why she wrote the Romani retcon ("Dick's from the circus, of course he's Romani" and "it gives him a reason to be all hot-blooded and alluring to people")! Die mad about it!

[joltai-showa]

did you manage to finish your balders gate playthrough? asking cuz i'm very interesting in hearing your overall thoughts of the game

Hi, thanks for the ask!

Nope, unfortunately, I stopped around mid-April because first I had to rush the finale of From Queen to a Pawn by Deidara's birthday, then all of May I worked and studied practically full-time and the only time for prolonged gaming sessions I had was on weekends (which pretty much fully ended up being consumed by HSR and Genshin as I had to finish the events/quests there) and now in the first half of June I have my exam for Chinese language classes, so no time for BG3 again until mid-June.

But I have stopped at around the beginning of Act 3 (passed the gates to Baldur's Gate and left my party in the brothel where the drow twins are), and I've watched a lot of shorts/videos/challanges on this game (lol), so I think I can say a few opinions that will not change much even after I finish my first proper playthrough (one day I am hoping to do an evil one too, currently I am kind of mildly selfish goody-two-shoes and getting all of my companions to their better(?) endings. I am unsure where Karlach's is going to go, with how many new patches Larian made since I got into the game for the first time)

First and foremost, I think that this game truly deserves GOTY that it got in 2023. I do not have much experience with in-depth RPGs such as BG3, I will admit - I am too much of a completionist, meaning I either finish the game for platinum and pretty much never touch it again, or give up half way through, so RPGs are usually too time-consuming for me (plus I am too busy most of the time, so it's easier for me to log into something live-service like Genshin or HSR and do something there for like 20-30 minutes per day to scratch the gamer itch) - but I can certainly say that BG3 is a first game of its kind that combines the variability of older RPGs from 1990s-2000s and the visual quality of the modern AAA games. I love the amount of crazy outcomes that this game already has and how many more there will probably discovered in the future, and my hat is off for the writers at Larian who had to consider all of the possibilities and create them and for the programmers who had to implement all of it (as a hobbyist writer and a programmer myself - unrelated to game design in any capacity, but having some general idea as to how a game like BG3 should be structured - it gives me a headache just thinking how all of the side quests, companion quests and main quest have to be considered in just planning out the layout of the game).

However, I do believe that this variety of the outcomes did come at a cost, but I will talk about this later, during the section about one certain character that I think is the weakest link in the cast.

Now, onto a bunch of other things:

the graphics - mwah😘

generally I am not a particular elitist when it comes to this stuff in video games, I just want the game to look either nice (which pretty much covers all modern games on decent rigs) or be stylized and stick to this style consistently - this is, I think, the main reason why I struggle playing older games (even if they are objectevily better in some gameplay aspects than what is offered nowadays), my brain and eyes get tired too quickly from the dull colors, angular models and clunky UI. if the game manages to stick the landing with this aspect in graphics, then I can get through it (random lore tidbit but I had played Nier Automata fully three times on three separate platforms and my first platinum is on Steam where I finished the game on my old study laptop that could only run the game in 700x680 at 20 FPS on an average location. like. I persevered through it, cuz the game is good)

nowadays I've got a modern gaming laptop that can run the game on high specs, and on my end it BG3 looked great: the locations, the characters, everything. I especially adore the look of the forest areas in Act 1, there's just something so magical about the forest near the druid's Grove, Ethel's swamp pre-reveal (I wish there was a way to do her quest without removing the yassifying filter on the bog lmao, I know it's supposed to be jarring and ugly, but I'd say there's an overabundance of ugly and horryfing locations in BG3, can we have something pretty as a treat) and the surroundings of Rosymourn Monastery. The light is especially amazing in the last one.

But I must admit that at times BG3 sucks a lot in another area that graphics can not improve, no matter how good they are, and I am talking about the design. Overall, I think the game captures the vibe it is going for, but some moments just completely take me out of the immersion.

Firstly, the character design, and not the main/playable characters, but the NPCs. It becomes really apparent that a bunch of characters have the exact same faces as characters in the previous acts, and Act 3 is really guilty of this - I did not even reach Wyrm's Crossing, and had already run into a dozen of NPC clones of characters from previous Acts. It's jarring, to say the least, and seems like a weird choice to make on the dev team's part, considering that they literally have a very extensive character creation engine. My guess is that Tav does not have many scenes that would require lipsync and correct facial motion capture, while NPCs do and are played by a limited number of actors that do numerous roles. However, they do manage to successfully make different appearances for non-humanoid characters that share the same actor (like with Loviatar's priest in Act 1 and Boney in Act 3, Ethel the Hag and Tara Gale's totally-not-a-cat), my guess is that all of team's efforts went on fixing the issues with non-humanoid animations, and then they just kinda decided to leave humanoid NPCs as they were, cuz it's easier. I get that they need to prioritize things, but I still dislike that it's present in the final game.

Then I've got issues with clothing design, and just how limited it feels in the game. Like, there's only so many choices in the game, and half of them looks meh. On top of that, the dye system sucks a lot, as you can't preview what your clothing will look like before you dye it plus you got to buy the fucking things from vendors that may or may not sell them, and that's on top of the limited color palettes. Bruh. I know that the game is already asset-heavy as it is, and there are mods to give you more pretty dresses and such with unlimited colors, but I am not a Betheslop fan, I don't consider an issue in the game solved if some fan made a mod to give something that is missing in the base game.

Another thing that I dislike a lot about BG3 is the general area design philosophy (cough cough Act 2 cough cough), but it's more of a personal pet peeve. I get that some areas are supposed to be gloomy and have twenty tons of human and non-human remains scattered around, but god fucking damn it can we stop with them. At some point. I get it, we are supposed to be on this grand DnD adventure, saving the world from evil gods and their lackeys and such (and I've seen some hardcore DnD fans complain that you can't do such a campaign at only level 12 max, which is... a bizarre thing to complain about. if the game works and is fun, then what's the point in being mad that it doesn't follow wider DnD canon. like. I have very limited experience with DnD, but I am pretty sure that on later levels the spells become Naruto final arc level stupid. which is hard to implement in a video game), but the more piles of human gore you add, the more desensitized I become to it.

AND PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD MAKE ACT 2 BRIGHTER. I COULD NOT PLAY IT UNLESS IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT. MY SCREEN IS ACTUALLY JUST FUCKING GREEN AND BLACK. It's so fucking stupid, me and my friends just outright call Shadow Cursed Lands "The Depression Lands". And playing the game there is just such a chore. For context, I reached that point in the game twice: once as my first character Makima (yes she was a tiefling) and abandonded the playthrough because Act 2 made me feel like a slow and confused ass; and then as my second character Tav (that may or may not look slightly like Deidara and whose Dream Guardian may or may not look slightly like a chad Obito - yes I am still very mad that the Emperor took off that disguise, I tried telling him to fuck go back, but he started yapping something about the beauty of his natural form. bruh), who is human. You know what's the main difference between humans and tieflings (and pretty much every other race in the game)?

The fucking darkvision.

And BG3 is a very different game when you are crawling through these abandonded dungeons and caves 2949928493 meters below the surface. Because darkvision does not only affect the accuracy of certain spells, no, no, no, it also gives the active character A VISION CONE THAT LIGHTS UP THE DARK AREA IN FRONT OF THEM. AND HUMANS DO NOT HAVE THAT CONE OF LIGHT. I had to walk half of Act 1 with a fucking torch in my hand, and not for any fucking puzzles, but because I COULD NOT SEE SHIT. The Selunite outpost in the Underdark? The torture room across priestess bedroom in the Goblin Camp, and pretty much half of the Goblin Camp interior? Imagine pure black fucking void in their place, and that's what it was like for my Tav without a torch. Oh, you wanna try to get darkvision on your character? Well, it's your lucky day, because Omeluum (or his redneck boyfriend or smth) sells a ring that gives you darkvision as a passive. You forked over 150 or so gold for it?

GET FUCKED LOOOOOOOOL, YOU GOT SCAMMED, BECAUSE THE FUCKING RING IS BUGGED. Yes, the internal calcs of the game DO consider this ring's effect, but it DOES NOT give you a cone of visibility, because it's fucking bugged.

(here's a more visual example, the hidden path to Kua Toa village in the Underdark. first is Astarion's POV with darkvision, second is Tav's POV without darkvision)

I legit spent like a week in such anguish, dreading Act 2, considering that any reduction in visibility in Act 1 made me go actually blind. Thankfully, around the end of Act 1 my sorlock build needed to spec into warlock, and this class actually gives darkvision as one of its passives that FUCKING WORKS, so Act 2 went pretty much as expected, but now I did not follow my ant gamer instinct (that is to explore every corner of the map before proceeding to the main quest) and MY GOD how much enjoyable was that. You mean I could have not beeing dying of Kethric's AIDS the entire time I was supposed to be doing any fucking battle? Oliver's hide and seek?

Point is, with how ubiquotous darkvision is among the playable races and characters, I don't think Larian properly tested their game areas on the darkness aspect, because god does it feel like ass when you do not have darkvision. That, and I think Act 2 should have kicked the player harder into following the main quest and getting drider's pixie or Isobel's blessing, because someone like me was an idiot and made myself go through raw ass fuckery when things could have been so much easier, but I digress.

Another aspect of design that I think is pretty important is the UI design aka the menu design. And it's... servicable, I guess? It works? At first seems cluttered as fuck, and I know there are mods to fix that (again doesn't count if Larian themselves didn't do it) but a few hours later you can kinda get used to it. Turning on/off non-lethal combat is still ass though. Overall, could have been better, but not everyone needs to be Atlus when it comes to UI design. Also it's still absolutely hilarious to me that the trader menu infinite gold/items bug could not be fixed even 8 patches later lol

Then there's the music... meh. It's also just pretty much fine, and unfortunately I can't say that it's anything special. A lot of it is very much "generic DnD adventure music your DM would put in the background", and only a small number of OSTs in the game have managed to capture me somewhat (I Want to Live as a cool easter egg behind Astarion's tent in the forest camp for whenever you get distracted from the game and gotta put your character somewhere to chill for 10-15 minutes and Raphael's Final Act which is one of the coolest boss themes I've heard in the while, both in execution and lyrics - on my second attempt to complete the game, I realized that half of the song pretty much fully references Raphael's opening monologue to the party - and honestly shoutout to Andrew Wincott for actually being the one to sing it, truly great and mind-boggling that it's locked to a side quest). The battle themes are even more forgettable, and I have only been listening to Twisted Force in my free time, because the chanting in the background is pretty cool - not sure what the intention behind it was supposed to be besides "male Slavic-sounding chanting like you have a you've got a warlock coven celebrating evil Ivan Kupala" lol. The composer is Bulgarian, if I remember correctly, so my perspective as Russian should be pretty close to his in that regard.

And now, finally, I think I got to the point the original asker was likely curious about - the plot and the characters!

Now, let's start with the plot, and honestly? I can't really evaluate it as I usually do in this blog (which is bashing Naruto's plot into the dirt like I am a bully dunking someone's head into the toilet), as BG3 is truly a choice-driven (and a bit of luck) RPG. You can be a lot of things - from hot mommy drow sorceress who is racist as fuck to everything one shade different from the color of cement to a goody two shoes gnome rushing into danger to save every poor urchin on your path and become the hero this city does not deserve - so the ending and the plot is determined through player's choices, and I really respect BG3 for this. In a lot of the games I have played in recent years (which particularly concerns Persona games, Genshin and HSR) the creators sure do love to give the player an illusion of choice in both the dialogues and the gameplay choices, likely fearing that the plot/cutscenes sections would bore the player to death as it takes away their time from the gameplay loop they are in in the first place, and to that I say - please, kindly fuck off. I'd rather read a plot-related scene in peace without BEING FUCKING INTERRUPTED ON STUPID IRRELEVANT BULLSHIT BECAUSE YOU CAN'T MAKE THE PLAYER'S CHOICE IMPORTANT AS THAT WOULD BREAK YOUR LINEAR STORY AND YOU ARE TERRIFIED OF BEING SEEN AS LINEAR BECAUSE YOU ARE MAKING A VIDEO GAME, AND VIDEO GAMES ARE SUPPOSED TO BE INTERACTIVE. Like, for fuck's sake, stop doing that - it isn't fun, it takes up your and player's time for useless shit, and variety is hard. Everyone knows that. There is no shame in keeping things linear if this is the best for the story you want to tell.

Okay, quick angry rant moment over, back to BG3 and Larian. In this particular case I think it's a tad more important to give the player the freedom to make their own story within the setting created by the writers rather than shoehorning everyone into the same outcome with slight differences while marketing itself as an in-depth RPG, and BG3 does this very well, which is why, I think, it certainly succeeds on the plot front given the format that the story is presented through.

Now, this does not mean I do not believe there are no intended outcomes for the main and side quests? No, and off my understanding of the game and the discussions I have seen, BG3 is certainly much more barren if you commit to a full evil route, pretty much confirming that the writers do expect the player not to be a complete murderhobo lol.

I can not say much for Durge playthrough as I have not done it yet (gotta say OG Durge design is fire and it's sucha a shame that stat wise Dragonborns are literally the worst race in the game lmao), but on the general Tav playthrough everything's... fine? I've seen some people complain how everyone for some reason trusts and relies on this random dude/dudette who just got yoinked into the plot to save the world, but I don't find it such an issue, I mean, this IS the player character, they NEED to experience the game to the fullest, you can make the stats and dialogue checks only so hard without making the game a chore to go through. Again, the game offers you a variety of choices to make the plot go as you want, and I think Larian would have been shooting themselves in the foot from game design perspective if they also went ham on taking in Tav's (perceived) background, as now they would not only need to write and code more shit to include Tav's background into the game's interaction with them, but also restricting the player from making the choices WHILE playing the game.

After the protagonist we've got the companion quests, and honestly? I really like how the common theme among them is "what is best for them is not what they want", like Shadowheart's servitude to Shar, Astarion's desire to complete the ascention ritual, Lae'zel's general githyanki thing with Vlaakith, Gale's godhood, yada yada. This obviously doesn't apply to the butchered characters (cough cough Wyll cough), the fanservice cameos (Jaheira and Minsc) and the later additions to the roster (Karlach and Halsin), but the common theme is certainly there, and I think it's a very cool one, as it pretty much guarantees a visible character progression for the companions and gives the player agency in achieving that "good ending" for these characters. From what I have seen, the writers generally do a very good job of showcasing the journey of these characters, like Shadowheart showing her mellower and kinder side, Astarion becoming less of an asshole and Lae'zel choosing what is right for her people (and her friends lol) instead of what had been instilled in her by Vlaakith, etc etc.

Minthara is a bit of a weird case, as she is originally supposed to be an evil route exclusive character (opposite of Wyll and good route, I guess, considering Karlach would become a companion later in development), but several patches down the line it became possible to recruit her while not killing everyone in the Grove by simply knocking her out with non-lethal attacks in the fight against the goblin leaders. In my opinion, this is a good enough compromise, as first timers would probably not think to do this (quest name KILL THE GOBLIN LEADERS probably implies all three of them need to be dead, and the other two need to be dead dead for the plot to proceed), thus going the original route with her being present only in evil route, while players that are more in the know can have the gang all together without pushing someone away and (more importantly) locking themselves out of some juicy quest rewards (such as Alfira's magic robe that she gives after saving the prisoners from Moonrise. yes that's the single best robe for any magical build in the game). Overall, I do not think this change takes away too much from Minthara's character arc, as in my understanding the main difference between the Act 1 good route and bad route is that you just knock her out and don't see her until Act 2, while on the evil path you raid the Grove and then she sits on your face and almost kills you (hot), and then you meet her the same way in Act 2. She still remains on her "betrayed by the Absolute and wants revenge" path either way, which makes sense in both cases, and keeps her arc with the majority of the rest of the characters. It does make it weird that you can have Mr. and Ms. Nice Guys like Wyll and Karlach in the same camp with Minthara "Let's murder those ten year olds for slightly disrespecting us" Baenre lmao. I mean. Most Tavs would probably accept Scratch and Owlbear Cub in their camps, so it would be unsurprising if down the line they actually got someone wild and feral.

Okay, done with my general view on the companion quests, just some more stuff regarding the main plot and then we can turn to my opinions on the characters.

Act 1 is truly something magical and unique, imho. It's a sort of lightning in a bottle that showcases the best of what BG3 can offer. I played through it fully - meaning all side quests and such - twice, and before starting it for the second time I was afraid I was gonna get bored, but I wasn't, not even for a moment (even when Astarion whom I was going to romance started reacting "Ugh, you again🙄🙄🙄" at my Tav's appearance. darling please I'm only taking the party on a slightly less assholish path, why are you like this). Maybe it's the effect of Act 1 being originally the Early Access plot, or maybe it's the combined fun of learning the battle system, getting to know the companions, chatting with NPCs and exploring the beautiful world of Act 1. In any case, Act 1 is just so fascinatingly interactive, and it would seem that the characters can react to any of the player's decisions. It's just amazing, and I wholeheartedly think BG3 in Act 1 is a 10/10 game, it's clear how much effort went into it.

Which makes it all the more apparent how much more limited and limiting Act 2 and 3 feel. In my understanding and based off the discussion I've seen, that's a common line with Larian games - start off incredibly strong and then deflate over time, particularly at the final act - which could be seen in their previous game (Divinity: Original Sin 2, right?). Now, I've already talked about how annoying Act 2 felt to me mechanically, but dear god thematically it also feels like it drags on for far too long. I get it, I get it, Depression Lands, everyone either died a horrible death or has turned into a zombie, undead assholes running around and ruining everyone's day, but seriously even the Last Light Inn or Moonrise Towers post Ketheric-battle feel like a sludge of dreariness - it is the same and it goes on for like 20-30 hours of play time, and after the first 10 hours I am absolutely done with everything already, I just want to go back to Act 1 and touch the green grass and blue water. I feel like the Thorms not named Kethric or Isobel could have been cut out entirely and nothing of particular value would have been lost - yes, they are horribly messed up and rancid freaks, but I think I got that memo from everyone in Moonrise, AND I can't really do anything for either the nurses or the patrons, so I'm pretty much stuck with the choices of either letting them live as insane zombies or killing them. It's an environmental way of telling the stories of those who had their lives ruined by Kethric's madness, but we ALREADY have the Selunite resistance side quest and other smaller interactive things showing this (and Oliver in a lesser extent, as he's connected with lifting the curse quest). I guess they are pretty fun bosses and Malus has some good gear on him, but damn I did not feel any fun when going to them compared to stuff like the Underdark quests in Act 1.

Can't say too much regarding Act 3 as I did not go through it fully, but off what I have read, there's a repeating problem of quests simply feeling unfulfilling if they were to end in Act 3. Collect the clown parts across the entire Act? Mediocre reward. Mol vanished at the end of Act 2? Yeah, she's just back in Act 3 lol. The exploding toys quest? I guess Gortash's just an asshole or smth. A lot of quests start feeling like a fart in a puddle, they start off cool enough, but then are just kinda resolved?? My understanding of the issue is that Larian was so busy lining up the flags for events and how they are affected by players' previous decisions that the writers literally had no time to work the side quests out, and in general all of the efforts went into making Baldur's Gate a seamless city that feels alive. It's cool, I get it, and I like it, but I would have also preferred if other parts of the game did not suffer for it.

And, of course, the interactivity falls dramatically the further you go into the game. If the characters in Act 1 reacted to pretty much everything, then by Act 3 you gotta pray that all of them would react to a major event (looking at you, Karlach).

Overall, I think me and my friends have had a very similar experience with this game, and I think it's fair to presume others did too: Act 1 in BG3 made me want to play it for 10 hours straight without food or sleep. Act 2 and 3 made me want to turn off the laptop after 2-3 hours of play time because it was starting to feel like a chore. It does not make the game as overall bad, it just shows that Act 1 is something Larian could not simply recreate with time and resources that they had.

(and to be fair I classify myself as an exploration gremlin and can't return to the main plot until I have explored everything already available to me. I just can't force myself, I need to see everything there is, and Act 1 is capable of satisfying that itch with its side content, while Act 2 and 3... well... they are struggling)

okay sorry but the following section is going to be really curt and angry because I spent three hours writing it and then tumblr being a piece of dogshit did not save any of it, so we're going to be running through as fast as we can while I remember what I wrote.

characters. minor characters in particular. npcs.

Raphael and Ethel are fucking amazing because a) their actors fucking served b) they feel like an organic part of this gritty and magical world. they are a part of it, and the main characters are only passerby in their own lives.

can't say anything regarding Orin and Gortash as of now, but they seem like they are okay. from what I have seen Orin is a decent representation of what growing up in a murder cult is going to do to you, while Gortash is a refreshing pragmatic evil. also seems pretty funny to me because a) played by Lucius Malfoy's actor, so I keep imagining him in that wig b) narrator calls him handsome young man meanwhile he looks like he is 40, smoked and drank for 20 of it and is going through a divorce c) my friend called the ship between him and Durge "Doordash"

Ketheric, Isobel and Aylin. cool story line in theory, sucks ass in practice, feels like it's been forgotten by the writers who were too busy with Act 1 and 3. Act 2 should have focused on them more instead of more bullshit about curse terrible. what I personally imagine to fix it: more story about Ketheric, his wife, his daughter and his devotion to Selune. the devotion starting to waver when his wife dies. Aylin and Isobel meeting, falling in love, how, when, where, what they did on their dates and such. Ketheric's views on this relationship and his mission to Selune in relation to Aylin. how Isobel fucking died (illness? accident? set-up by either Shar or Myrkul?). Ketheric's descent into darkness and Shar, while Aylin at the same time starts messing with her semi-godhood, both trying to bring Isobel back. Aylin punished by Selune for that, explaining why she feels so weak in the gameplay and the story, her ending up being captured by Ketheric like that. Isobel's return to living, her horror to seeing things after a hundred years. parallels between her and Ketheric, as she tries to bring Aylin back to life (not knowing she's kept in Shar's backrooms) after losing her family, her home and her love while protecting the Last Light inn. how Isobel's will is stronger than Ketheric's when she decides to stop messing with death because it would be against the teaching of Selune that both her and Aylin followed. yada yada, you get it, this plot line disappointed me a lot.

other npcs - fine, I like them enough. Kagha is good for what she is, tiefling refugees are okay, I like Dammon a lot, mushroom colony is funky and cool, the gnome plot line is pretty cool, I like the dude you pick off the windmill, followers of other DnD gods are crazy and it's funny to me, githyanki are generational haters and I like their armor a lot, they are cool, Emperor is obviously a manipulative asshole and I am unsure why the fandom is even debating this, he's buttering you up just to survive and get what he wants, anyway can he go back to the hot dilf look I made for him. don't think anyone in Act 3 stood out to me just yet, but I liked the ringmaster in the circus a lot. not sure if they are supposed to be a woman or a drag queen, but they are giving me Lala-chan from Persona 5 vibes, and I fuck with that.

Scratch and Owlbear baby are lovely. I will die for the little Owlbear.

OKAY FINALLY WE ARE AT THE COMPANION CHARACTERS!

again, disclaimer, as I did not see the end of a lot of these guys' arcs, but have a general idea of what to expect, so my judgements are made based on that.

some general info: both on my first and second playthroughs my party consisted of my Tav, Astarion, Shadowheart and Karlach. It was kinda ass to play when I was a ranger (and I didn't use the build guides just yet, so Shadowheart was stuck with the ass trickery domain) - practically no spell casters and too much stealth needed, but on my second playthrough with my sorlock Tav the party was pretty balanced and fun. Not even sure how I am supposed to play the game without the Astarion-Shadowheart core as both provide insane utility in being able to lockpick shit and spam guidance in the stat checks, but whatever. I think that's an important info to know because I do not switch them out for any of the scenes - the rest of the party remains in camp, but whenever I return or go for a long rest, I do try to talk with them all and see their reactions to the ongoing events/updates to their personal quests.

Welp, without further ado, let's get into it, but first to get some of the easy stuff out of the way.

Jaheira and Minsc.

Both of them are legacy characters and return from the previous entries in the Baldur's Gate series. As I did not play them, I can't really say their appearances make me feel anything - Jaheira is a really cool lady with lots of history which you can clearly see and Minsc… can't even really make sense of him, but my impression of him is some sort of weird comic relief dude? I dunno, I haven't even met him in my playthrough and only see his reactions and dialogues in the Youtube shorts that I get. I did see a lot of heartwarming stories of how people were almost brought to tears when meeting Jaheira after 20 years have passed since they first met her in the original game, and I think it's really cool that a cameo like that got introduced pretty organically and does not feel too fanservicy, at least when it comes to Jaheira. I like her, she's pretty cool, and I love her voice and a bit unusual accent (speaking as someone for whom English is their second language)

Halsin

Ehhhhh… bruh.

So, from what I know, Halsin is kinda in the same territory as Karlach - wasn't a companion character in Early Access, but people begged to make the bear man a recruitable guy to totally not fuck this big strong hunky druid, and Larian obliged, which is how we end up with him in the party. Problem is, you get Karlach in early Act 1, meanwhile you do not even get to meet Halsin until mid to late Act 1, and he becomes a playable character only by the fucking end of Act 2, and that's after you do all the quests connected with saving Thaniel (I FUCKING HATE THE PROTECT THE PORTAL QUEST ALL MY HOMIES HATE PROTECT THE PORTAL THANK YOU LARIAN FOR THIS RANDOM ASS AOE CHECK WTF IS THAT I LOST 5 HOURS OF PROGRESS BECAUSE OF THAT STUPID QUEST), and what do you get for it? Absolutely fucking nothing in Act 3, because Halsin truly has nothing to do in the story after saving the Depression Lands. He's kinda just stuck by your side with his character goals' fully complete, and can't offer anything to the story besides horny bear shapeshifter wants to mate with you + hahaha bear sex scene + Shadowheart being omega horny for him for some reason (not hating, I find it really funny, and it's a pretty fun way to charactarize Shadowheart's tastes besides her being playersexual) + the fivesome sex scenes in the brothel. I am not saying that BG3 is bad for offering the player these choices, but does it really justify him being a party slot in the game? Even in the full game he remains a glorified NPC with an okay plot line, but overall I feel like I am wasting my time whenever I come up to talk with him - he is not offering anything special, and his dialogue options feel so limited, like they were rushed at the last possible moment.

Minthara

God do I love good old Minthy.

I talk a lot about villains on this blog, and one of the worst writing crimes that I strongly believe a writer can commit is woobifying a complete asshole war criminal that did messed up things on their own volition and found joy in them/believed themselves justified to bring harm to innocents. Yes, something in their past can be incredebly traumatic, and yes, you can make the reader/player bawl their eyes out with their backstory, but it does not change the fact that this does not make them justified in harming unrelated people just because they could - it is a reprehensible thing to do, and do not try to gaslight your reader/player it is not. Yes, some kinder characters in the story can find themselves sympathizing with the struggles of that one person (should they properly learn of their past, that is), but a lot more people would still hate them for it, and it should reflect in their reactions to this person. But most importantly, this person should show this sort of wickedness in them, because, once you did something as messed up as what evil guys tend to do, there should be some justification in their mind, some reason why the did it - even if to us, as the readers/players, this might seem like an excuse, to that character it should be ENOUGH to justify what they did, it should tie in the core values and beliefs that they have.

Okay, side rant over, back to Minthara. I think Larian did a great job with her, because even after being saved by the Scooby Gang, Minthy remains a wicked bitch, for the lack of better description lol. She is a child of drow culture through and through, and even being betrayed by the Absolute does not change her ruthless core values - she still wishes to scheme and powergrab if such an option is on the table, which makes her pretty similar to Astarion in that regard. While I think Astarion does this more so out of his own trauma with Cazador and to forever remain at the top of the food chain so that no one can harm him again, Minthara does this out of her own beliefs that weakness is unacceptable, and the strong are the ones fitted to rule the weak. And you know what? Good for her, I love a good evil woman in power. In the story where most companions are trying to break free of the messed up nature of their past/society/religion, Minthy is a sort of breath of fresh air - she is aware of how different her people's beliefs are different to the other Underdark people and surface-level dwellers, and yet she chooses to stay true to the ruthless origins of hers.

I do have some questions to how the party reacts to her joining the gang if you are doing a good run, but I would not go to the lengths of saying the plot excuses her for her actions, because a) let's be fucking real most of the companions are not innocent cutie patooties themselves, so they would not be as horrified of Minthara's actions because to them it would have been like another second Thursday of the month b) Minthara arrives at the camp after we see her being tortured into insanity by the people she originally served, not trying to get a world record in all war crimes described by Geneva convention, and that would tug the heart strings of the "good aligned" characters, so, overall, I think BG3 does a good enough job of balancing the evil and the forgiveness factor when it comes to Minthara. I do think that "good" characters like Wyll and Halsin should be a lot more confrontational about inviting her at our place, but both of these guys have so many issues with their writing that I do not consider this to be a problem when thinking of Minthara.

And, finally, Minthara is just so much fucking fun. It's not some sort of objective criteria, but god I have so much fun interacting with Minthara. If I were to translate it into Naruto terms, think of Hidan: he has zero fucking backstory, he literally kills for his mysterious god of murder, and there is no justification provided to him if we think about it from traumatic point of view. He still remains one of the most fun villains Naruto ever produced, because he is kinda stupid, he is hot-blooded, foul-mouthed, an absolute batshit crazy psycho that has a lot of funny and absurd interactions with his fellow Akatsuki members (a lot of whom are the exact trauma-driven sad-backstory-dumping characters, which makes a funny contrast with him). Going back to Minthara - any interaction with her is absolute unhinged (courtesy of Minthara herself or her random Menzoberranzan stories), and every time I return to camp I can't wait to see what Minthy has to say regarding our situation. Like, I come up to talk about Orin's shapeshifting, and there's an option to randomly accuse Minthara of being a sussy impostor, and she INSTANTLY, NO HESITATION, NO SECOND THOUGHTS starts acting like she is Orin in disguise, and that's the funniest shit I have seen in Act 3 so far. She single-handedly makes the statement "fictional discrimination in DnD is hilarious" true with her interactions with Gale. Like, I am dying of laughter any time she talks about the wizard with hard R, or when she informs him he has an aura of a third son (in drow culture families kill any male kids beyond the second one as they are considered useless even for breeding). Point is, Minthara is evil, regardless of her past, and she revels in this evil, and that's what makes her such a joy to hang around with.

And, of course, Emma Gregory's voice is absolutely phenomenal. Minthara has such a captivating voice thanks to her, and I seriously recommend those who do even not enjoy Minthara as a character to just listen to Emma Gregory play her in some Youtube compilation, I promise it's worth it.

Anyway, I think that's it for the kind of optional/"hard to get because you need to go through bajillion plot hours to get them" companions, so let's get to the main cast!

I'll start with the characters I've actually interacted the most, which would be my old and trusty party: Astarion, Shadowheart and Karlach.

Now, Astarion, my darling Astarion. I am an Astarion girlie through and through, most of my friends who have played BG3 are Astarion girlies as well, so overall, expect a pretty strong bias in his favor in the upcoming sections. I'm in general a big fan of his design, and men with blonde/white hair activate something in my neurons lol

In my honest (if controversial) opinion, Astarion is one of the best, if not outright the best character in BG3. Now, it's not that it's an uncommon belief among Astarion fans, but rather... I am not sure how to phrase this better, but I have seen quite a bit of resentment aimed Astarion's way from the fans of other companion characters. I am not going to point fingers at any particular group, but it's very much noticable when you spend extended periods of time in BG3-adjacent discussions. The issue essentially boils down to people disliking how much content "the vampire twink" gets while "being not that <think of any descriptive adjective> when compared to <the speaker's favorite companion>" and how Larian endlessly feeds the Astarion fans while leaving <speaker's favorite companion> fans starved.

The issue here, I think, ultimately comes down to a vicious cycle of player feedback and Larian's focus on what things to improve in the game: Astarion, at a baseline, appeals to a lot of players be it for the looks/personality/interactions with the players/etc, so a lot of people demand more of Astarion. Larian, following the feedback they receive, focuses their resources on writing and recording more scenes for Astarion, which makes them prioritize other companions less, and then more Astarion content attracts more future Astarion fans, and the cycle repeats. I'd say the solution would have been for Larian to focus on all the companions equally, but with BG3 being as complicated as it is? They'd actually be spread too thin, and that would probably to the detriment of both Astarion and non-Astarion fans.

(and for a certain someone no amount of attention being taken away from Astarion would be enough to fix them, but that's for later🤗)

Anyway, I think what makes Astarion stand out from the rest of the cast is two things: Neil Newbon working his ass off and Astarion's character arc being something in between of all the other characters.

This is not to say other actors failed at bringing their respective characters to life, it's just that Neil Newbon went so above and beyond with Astarion it's just sort of unfair to compare them. I think I remember Neil mentioning that Astarion's story actually hits close to home, so to speak, when he was receiving an award for best character perfomance or smth, and you can kind of see it in a lot of "emotional" scenes concerning Astarion. And while Astarion's trauma and drama are deeply engaging, Neil is also amazing when it comes to portraying Astarion's casual evilness, giddy sadism and overall drama queeness, which makes for an endless amount of memeable and hilarious moments. In that regard Astarion is sort of normie's best choice for the gritty humor of DnD world (because true "unhinged casual evil" fans know that the true winner in this category is Minthara😘). Overall, both the script and the actor are doing their goddamn best to make this character fun and memorable for the player - and you can clearly see how much the creators love him, and I think that's great.

But back to Astarion's character arc: I find the contrast between him and the rest of the cast quite interesting. On one hand, you've got people tightly wrapped into their own religion/culture and at a certain point they must confront it and become disillusioned of it, which forces them to reevalute their ideals and goals (Shadowheart, Lae'zel); on the other hand, you have guys who have been deeply wronged in the past, and now they are searching for a way to fix what had happened to them to live, what they believe, a better life (Gale, Karlach, Wyll). The main difference between these two groups is that the first type changes suddenly and drastically - all they believed in is ripped from their own hands, and now they must make sense of their life somehow - while the second type remains a lot more true to themselves, and they are simply reassessing what is truly important for them. (Feel free to correct me, as I am much more familiar with the characters of the first group and might me making assuptions regarding the second group.)

And the thing about Astarion - he kind of does not fit either of those types. Yes, he is similar to the second group in the fact that he had gone through something that haunts him to this day, but, unlike the others, Astarion does not remain a simple victim of his circumstances. He is vengeful, he is spiteful, and he feels if not entitled, but at least justified in harming the weak, be it for his selfish goals or pure entertainment. Astarion as a character feels raw and painful because the hell he went through does not make him sad and pitable, it did the opposite to him: turned him angry, hateful and entrapped him in the same mindset Cazador lives in. If he is allowed to proceed through with his plans and desires, then we simply get Ascended Astarion (whom I am going to call Asshole Astarion from now on, because the word Ascended sucks to write) - a carbon copy of Cazador in all but name and looks, the very thing Astarion despises.

But Astarion's path to a happier life is not about him getting all of his life and beliefs challenged in some sort of giant betrayal from the higher entity he believes in - hi Lae'zel and Shadowheart! - but is a collection of smaller things over the course of all three Acts that culminates in him making the choice to either proceed with the ritual and become someone who he thinks will never be hurt or used again, or to remain himself and breaking the cycle of vampire master and spawn. I am unsure if the game keeps track of the choices you make over the playthrough and how you challenge Astarion's views on himself, others and his freedom, but I dunno, it always feels so rewarding when Astarion does drop his suave demeanor and is surprised by the humane things he was deprived of for hundreds of years and how it might not be an end of the world to show kindness to others lol.

Overall, I think what I love the most about Astarion is how the game, ultimately, allows him to be a fun evil bastard, but also does not shy away from showing how tragedy and suffering might not make a person better, and how it is still possible to escape the pain of your past and pursue something better, even if it is hard and takes a lot of time. I respect BG3 for putting two important things in the plot: Asshole Astarion (whom I do not think I am ever going to see in my own playthrough LOL god he's such an insufferable asshole) and Cazador's inner monologue regarding his hatred of what he had become. I don't particularly care for Cazador as a character, and he can die twenty times over for every rat Astarion had eaten, but I believe both of these things tie in nicely together to show how Astarion's personal quest is about dealing with cycle of abuse, and how, at some point, Cazador too seeked to destroy his master that had made him suffer and become someone stronger than him, and, in the end, became the worst version of himself, which is what Asshole Astarion mirrors. You can not win by continuing the cycle of abuse. Are you going to become whole by escaping it or breaking it? Unlikely, but it will certainly make you and those around you happier, even if it is harder.

(also now that I think about it but Astarion's backstory is literally be an evil lawyer, fuck around and find out, become an evil(ish) vampire. that's. that's literally Dio Brando. we just reinvented Dio Brando, but in DnD)

Let's get to Shadowheart! I'd say she is the closest thing that BG3 has to a protagonist if we assume Tav/Durge got splattered during the nautiloid crash lol - out of all the companions, she has the highest chance of surviving all the bullshit the plot throws at the party, considering she's got the Emperor pokeball and is immune to Depression Lands.

She's pretty fun, all things considered. I really like her design, and Selunite Shadowheart slays🫦it's also pretty funny how absolutely not evil she is the moment you start to become closer to her - that's one of the biggest softies you'll ever meet, and you can clearly see her putting up the front to look cool and emo as Shar's Chosen or smth lol. Yeah, yeah, bestie, you're the terrifying Dark Justiciar, now can you please stop cuddling with the Owlbear, the baby is probably hungry after you've been hugging him for the last three hours.

I can't say anything certain regarding her ending, because it's one of the things I did not look up just yet, so I can not comment on what's her deal is and how her parents' fate will affect my perception of her. Overall, I'd say she's a good representation of what a cult (and no, not the tentacle brain one lmao) can do to a person, and how beneath all the brainwashing Shadowheart remains a very much kind person. You can't break her out Shar's teachings in a day, and she is going to do terrible things if there is nothing to challenge her views on the world and her religion, but, considering how her Nightsong point system works, I'd say she herself remains someone who would do what is right rather than what is being demanded of her. It's kind of a story about not being unsalvagable from the teaching forced upon someone's mind.

Karlach!

God I love Karlach. I find it harder to be interested in the good-aligned companions, mostly because the moment the plot introduces something interesting about them, they quickly go from goody-two-shoes and liwwle cutie pies into someone less morally white, but Karlach is the one to manage to keep her "wholesome" thing with being fun to be around. She's abrasive and hot-heated, but you can still feel the heart of gold beneath all those muscles (even if there really is no heart lol). I think the reason she works for me is that she is not exactly a paragon of virtue, and she will likely do messed-up shit to people that may or may not deserve it if they get in the way of her people - which would be the BG3 gang. It also helps that we know she is not completely innocent, she spent 10 years fighting a war a side in which she was forced to join - Karlach is willing to do what is necessary to survive. Still, there are steel hard principles ingrained in her, and she is not willing to compromise on them - and she'll make sure everyone knows about it lol. But most of all, I think Karlach takes one of the themes you can see in Astarion's arc - freedom to live your life the way you want after spending so long in misery - and she explores it in a different direction: Karlach wants nothing to do with Hells, and her only goal is to get her life straightened out and enjoy everything she had been deprived of, like hugs, parties and other innocent fun. It's really powerful to see her not fall into despair even after being told she will not be able to live in the surface world, because she's tired of not being able to enjoy her life. And even when she does kind of set out for revenge, similarly to Astarion, I'd say Karlach is less about getting back at the man who betrayed her, wooping Gortash's ass is kinda necessary for all of her buddies to survive. She's just a giant blazing ray of sunshine, and I really, really love her earnest nature, especially in comparison to Shadowheart's emo phase and Astarion's drama lmao.

I do think Karlach could have been better. You can see how much stuff is still missing from her companion, like her reactions to certain events that everyone has except her, and I believe I have read she was a really late addition to the roster, maybe even added later, in the full game like Halsin? She also gets along with Wyll waaaay to easily, there should be a lot more horn ramming around these parts between the two. Would have helped set up both of these guys, but honestly, I like Karlach as she is. It's really impressive Larian made her work in such a tight period of time.

Okay, now we are leaving the familiar waters for me, and entering things that I know based on the camp interactions/stuff seen on the social media, so bear with me here and try not to throw pitchforks too hard.

Lae'zel! Lae'zel is pretty cool. Originally when I started playing the game, I did not really like her much (and somehow even missed her while exploring the forest in Act 1..... it took me until finding Karlach to learn you can actually recruit Lae'zel before entering the Grove💀I assumed she'd be in that Creche thing or something. I am still better than my Doordash shipping friend - she learned Gale needs to eat your magical artifacts throughout Act 1, so she just... did not come up to the portal. She literally ignored the poor guy. Bro imploded in that rock. Task failed successfully?), but over time she grew on me. I think a lot of first time players passes her over due to her design (which is... well, fair, I suppose, but you get used to githyanki looks) and how overly pushy and aggressive she seems, even in comparison to other companions. Only down the line you realize that Lae'zel is very much "woke" by gith standards and open-minded when it comes to the istiks. Seriously, my perspective changed so hard after I read someone's post on Tumblr describing the events of Act 1 from her POV (you're 22 years old, you end up in a weird parallel universe with creatures that look uglier than the last, you doubt their intelligence, but then all of you learn you're sick with COVID or something, but it's fine, because you know where to find a proper doctor, you try to explain these things the importance of vaccines, social distancing and wearing masks, but these guys collectively start yapping something about looksmaxxing, how vaccines makes frog gay and how tomatoes are bad for your skin, and why the angle of your jaw is the most important thing ever. you bear through their bullshit, because you are the kindest of your kind, but fucking hell do they test your patience. and the worst thing? the stupid snake oil sniffers turn out to be RIGHT AND THE VACCINES ARE ACTUALLY EVIL AND THE DOCTORS WANT TO KIL--), and I realized that my girlie is really struggling to deal with it all, especially considering how quickly she comes face to face with the knowledge that everything she was taught was fake. It makes me proud to see her ferocious nature being aimed at the right thing, and finding proper companionship with the rest of the gang. Overall, Lae'zel is very much ride or die, and she's the type to slit another's throat if she thinks her people are in danger, which makes her really cool!

(also Lae'zel and Shadowheart should bond over their trauma from Vlaakith and Shar and then they should make out. just saying!)

She's also got a kind of cute side to her, with her being unfamiliar with some creatures and words of Faerun, which is so funny? But she is thrown into a completely unfamilar situation, and I think she's doing pretty good for what she was given lol. Anyway, she's both cool and cute, and pretty much always a girlfailure, and I can respect that lol.

Also I am a firm believer that Larian casted Devora Wilde for Lae'zel's role because this was the only companion character who would be losing most of the actor's original features, as Devora looks like a fucking goddess and literally the most beautiful woman you'll see in your life, and if they did not make Lae'zel look like a humanized frog, all players would have been romancing Devora's character and no one else would have stood a chance lmao.

Gale is... interesting. Not in a negative sense, it's just that among the companions I perceive positively and is slightly interested into what their deal is, I just can not make myself imagine romancing him in particular. Is it because of the Mystra thing? I dunno, I spent a few camp events with him, and yeaaaah he mentions his ex a lot, which is uhhhhh... tho to be fair if my ex was some sort of god, especially something connected with my domain, I would also not be able to shut up about them and just be over with them lmao. Is it the vibes? He's kind of giving me vibes of a good chill buddy you can chat about pretty much anything, and neither of you are going to be throwing your baggage at each other (can't exactly say the same about other companions lol). He's a nerd, he's a loser, he's got a cool cat slash mom that keeps his life together, omg he's just like me fr. Jk, but you get the idea. I'd love to have him in the party, but I will not be sad if I do not get to romance him, I'd like him as a good if slightly sarcastic friend in the group.

Can't say I make much sense of his arc, because his ex is a toxic bitch that told him he should kill himself NOW (thunder roars), and he's kind of struggling with surviving until he meets his one true love aka the elder brain with the crown of Karsus on top of it. I kinda wanna kick him in the head for not learning anything about messing with dangerous artifacts, but what can you ask of a wizard (Minthara's wizard with hard R).

And now we get to the one and only, the character I have been alluding this entire post - Wyll.

Fucking hell, Wyll sucks. He just sucks as a character. I am seriously confused how the hell are all the previous main companions exist on the same plane as Wyll does. Karlach was a last minute addition, and yet it feels like more effort was put into her when there ever was in Wyll.

So, let's break it down. Why is Wyll a bad character? Specifically a character, not a person, out of all the companions he is probably the most "good" aligned of the lot. The answer is very simple: he is boring, and there is nothing worse for a fictional character in a story such as BG3 than being boring. None of the dialogue I have seen of him is interesting to me, he always says the thing that I can predict from a mile away, he does not have an interesting character arc - woah, he took a deal with the devil to be a good hero for all, woah, who could have expected that!! and woah, he followed through on this plan!! oh, but the devil fucked him over in the deal (literally several side quests in the game btw, so what's new being brought to the table, exactly?), and now his father disowned him(?), he's been forced to pursue an innocent tiefling and then he gets the devil/tiefling outlook for failing to follow through on his contract. Is he angry at his father for that? Is there still some tension and friction between him and Karlach, consindering how long both of them saw the other as the enemy? He's been forced to grow horns and tail, surely this would be most upsetting experience for him that would make him slightly grumpy, at least?

Naaaaaah, he isn't mad at his dad, he's pretty much instantly chill with Karlach, and he gets used to the horns after like one Long Rest. I have a question to whoever was writing Wyll: why are you so afraid of any mere notion of confrontation and conflict? Why is Wyll so damn fucking passive about everything? Why does he go along so easily with things? Why the fuck is it only Mizora - an obvious bad guy and a devil, for fuck's sake - capable of getting something out of Wyll that jolts me awake when I am sitting through a cutscene for his quest? Why, unless you are going for an absurd murderhobo run, Wyll's responses will always follow the structure "We completed thing A. We learned thing B. Let us use it to complete thing C. Let's go!" over. and over. and over again. Seriously, I fucking told you your father is in grave danger, and your reaction is "Welp. Let's go to Moonrise Towers. Oh, they tadpoled him? Damn... Welp, let's go to Baldur's Gate."

Like, I am not hating on Wyll for being a "good" aligned character, even if they are not exactly my cup of tea, but such a character MUST have a rigid inner core that would CONSTANTLY come into conflict with the world around them/other companions that are a lot less moral than Wyll is. You can't just shove Mr. Good Guy who is not going to change as a person much over the course of the plot and then NOT give him some interesting relationships and conflicts with other characters, and vice versa, because otherwise you end up with Wyll - a character awkwardly stuck doing pretty much nothing in all of his aspects as a character. And from my understanding, this guy somehow manages to be a background character in his own fucking quest, with the focus being taken completely away from him, and if this is true, holy fucking shit how this was allowed to ship.

And the only thing worse than Wyll's state in the game is the people defending it in the fandom. "No, no, no, you gotta give him time, he's getting so good down the line" - Steam tells me I have over 160 hours of play time in BG3, and NOT ONCE did Wyll manage to get me interested, neither with his dialogue nor with his plot line, contrary to every single damn companion in the game. What, should I wait until 200 hours to get that mysterious good Wyll arc?

"His romance is sooooo good" - yeah, and you can have a classy romance with courtship and dances and such WHILE HAVING AN INTERESTING CHARACTER ATTACHED TO IT, not an equivalent of soggy loaf of bread to be chewed in the middle of the night when you've got a fridge full of delectable Michelin star dishes that are the other companions. Oh, yeah, and it's a bad argument from the start, because not only is Wyll competing against the other characters to be romanced, but also because the character needs to OFFER something to the player before they run up to them to rizz them up, and Wyll fails to deliver literally anything with his quest.

"Well, at least Wyll would treat me well, unlike <another companion>" - what sort of argument is that? Are we 5 or something, are we having an argument in kindergarteners' sandbox over who's totally not imaginary friend is cooler? They are FICTIONAL characters, BG3 is a work of FICTION, why are you trying to drag something irl into this? It's fun to explore because it's safe and fictional. Obviously I would never date an undead vampire with an ego, because he would make me fucking sickly and anemic real quick, of course I would not date a horny girl with an engine for a heart, because I like having my faces not bloody melted into nothing. "Wyll would treat me well" literally has nothing to do with anything.

"People do not appreciate Wyll enough because they are racist" - yes, I wish I was making up some of the takes I have witnessed over the years. I'd love to chug whatever the hell the people claiming this did, because that must be the wildest thing ever. While yes, there might be some assholes who will not give Wyll a chance due to the color of his skin, they are the minority, and most people would crash and burn into Wyll's pathetic execution which is enough to bore anyone to death and make them wish they were talking with another companion, but hey, good job making a blanket statement about a pretty large chunk of the fanbase :D

Okay, rant over. I have no fucking clue how did we even arrive at Wyll being released in such a state, especially compared to other companions. Off the information that I know of, it would seem we had a much better and more coherent version of this character in the Early Access, with this guy being kind of full of himself and more so playing a hero rather than being one, and it's honestly amazing to me how everything I hear about Wyll in Early Access is somehow better than the final game. It feels like player feedback suggested that this guy's personality might have been slightly grating on people's nerves, so Larian's solution was to rip out any traces of personality he might have had in the first place, and then literally never write for him anything again.

That's why I repeatedly said that one particular character might have become the victim of the insurmountable task that the development of BG3 must have been for everyone involved - my guess is, Wyll was not particularly popular in the Early Access, and so his rewrite kept being pushed back, because "oh, we need to finish up Astarion's/Shadowheart's/etc plotline", "now we need to figure out how to connect all these dangs quests", "and here we've got a lore thing to tie in" and then it just kept piling on and on, and past a certain point Larian just said "fuck it" and abandonded Wyll in his "basic character outline state", because it would have been even more work for them to rewrite and add new scenes for Wyll to be on the same level as other companions.

And it's actually the writing issue, literally just the writers' problem, because whenever Theo Solomon gets to improvise with this guy (like in those official WotC sponsored DnD sessions), he makes him so much more entertaining and funny, I'm consistently amazed that it's supposed to be the same character played by the same man. Is the Shade of Frontiers OOC? Yes. Would I like him to replace whatever the hell Wyll is in the final game? Absolutely, I'd even pay money if that happened. Give me an official Shade of Frontiers mod, Larian.

Oh, and to all the people claiming "ugh, Larian added more content for Astarion🙄and nothing for Wyll🙄" - adding more scenes for him would not solve the fundamental issues in his writing. Yes, I guess it can improve the finale of his arc - slightly - but you can literally carve out both Astarion and Shadowheart out of the game, and if the writers do not take their fucking time rewriting Wyll from the very beginning, he will not become an overall better character. He would still remain a borderline NPC that somehow got elevated to companion status. And again, the rewrite does not have to take Wyll into a wildly different direction and make him into Mr. Happy Murder number seven, we've got enough of those already, but give him more conflict with other morally questionable people, give him something to show off his moral compass, and for fuck's sake give me something that's not the most barebones writing for a good aligned character.

I think that's about it on this guy. Overall, I feel like Wyll commits the worst sin a compaion character can do and that is not managing to get my interest even slightly over the course of more than 160 hours. I did not have another party other than Astarion-Shadowheart-Karlach, but the rest of the gang except Wyll? Yeah, I'd love to have another run with them and see how they see the story. But with Wyll I feel like I already know every reaction he is going to give to whatever the plot throws at us, and it's gonna be generic, bland, heroic and absolute non-confrontational unless we are talking with the bad BAD guys.

This guy is not unsalvagable, but dear lord it's a tall task to get him to the same level of quality as the rest of the cast.

Ok, I think that's about it for my impressions of BG3? Holy fucking shit it took me 2 weeks to write this thing (granted I kept getting interrupted by exams and work). To summarize, I really love Baldur's Gate 3, and it's a lot of fun, even if there are some pretty glaring issues and some little things that annoy me a bit. Truly can't recommend this game enough and I think everyone should give it a chance.

Thank you for the ask, again, it was a lot of fun to go through.

[kerryshifts]

Also KERRY!!! HOW ARE YOUUU? 🫶

I hope you are well, I just got on ITALY DR GUIDE,which has always been my main Dr 🥹I actually want to ask you few questions and I hope you'll help me :))))

So.. FIRSTLY I'LL TELL YOU SOME BACK STORY KIND OF THING MAYBE? so okie I'm actually new to shifting LIKE JUST RECENTLY INSAW ONE OF THE TUMBLR POST related to it so I searched about it AND I DON'T KNOW IF SHOULD I FEEL LUCKY THAT SUCH A THING EXISTS AND I KNOW ABOUT IT ORRRR to feel OVERWHELMED but anyways I NEED to tell you something 🥹bcs i don't know who to tell it bcs people judge you know? But I LOVE UR BLOG SM and assuming that you won't judge so I am yapping here, I hope you'll hear me out. So in 2022 you know.. Let's just say my life wasn't going well + I use to wonder WHAT IF we were given chance to choose our own life own experiences and all that stuff with free will.. What if after death we'd actually get to choose what to experience and all (I also was a firm reincarnation believer) so yeah I thought yeah maybe in my next life I'll be able to choose my own life how I want it to be and all + (I've read books like "journey of soulsz, and another one idk the name but it's from Michael Newton where it was given that our souls actually plan their life before they come here but I truly didn't believe that bcs wydm I choose this life?) but anyways so during this time I actually use to plan things and life I wanna experience on a book I use to write it (which now I know is scriptijg Dr) and Italy has been one of ym favourite places like I GENUINELY WANTED TO EXPERIENCE THEIR CULTURE (no it's not that like I'm simply attracted to the idea of being in Italy or something or simply I'm Romantising it NOPE like I genuinely I WANT TO KNOW, LIVE EXPERIENCE a life in Italy if it was a simple phase it would have been gone already but nope from three years and I still want to) and coming back in 2022 during that time I literally thought I was a crazy person planning my next life 😭😭😭I even wrote what my name, family, experiences will be like even planned my whole appearnace lol.. So yep.. I definitely thought I was crazy BUT now that somehow I found out about shifting (last month in March) I am genuinely feeling like it was meant to be and my 2022 self would be so happyyyyyy and today I saw you Italy DR GUIDE ANDDDD OFC I HAD TO COME HERE And honestly I didn't tell about it to any of my close friends (like I share things with them) but they'd probably think I'm crazy and brush it off bcs you know how close minded people are so that's why i didn't and don't even want them to. Ofc rn still I'm having abouts and all as a beginner about shifting eheh 😭(how do I not let that happen?) sooo yeah that's all I wanted to say.

And I wanted to ask if you'd like to be by friend (bcs i LITERLLALY HAVE no friends who are into shifting) and how do I make friends here? 😭*I'm too awakward* andddddd I hope you'll reply to this message I'll make an shifting acc here maybe? (I don't want one.. So like make a new different one I'll make)

Plus I assume you're Italy no? So like I want to ask likeeeeee hmmm.. Don't judge me but I want my DR dad to be a italian like ofc Italy is MAIN DR and my mom a french?! (bcs you know I kinda of just want to experience bit of French/france culture in the same DR I hope you won't judge me on it plus my DR Name is something like : "a french first name" "a Italian middle nickname" "Italian surname obviously" showcasing both cultures?) I dunno it it's right or not BUT PLEASE DONT JUDGE AND CORRECT ME BAHAHA 😭

ALSO ANY RECOMMENDATIONS BEFORE I ACTUALLY START OFFCIAL SCRIPTING how do I build my Italy related world building skills and knowledge?..also how's the Italian old money culture? Different types of lifestyles // social classes // lives.. And ofc some best places to live in? + YES another THING IS I kinda want to experience that life from beginning in Italy (so I might shift as a kid in 2000s..to live it from there and reach my current age in 2025 and all) idk if I'll perma shift or not I'm not confident yet :/ but that's all heh <3

Thank youuu soo much for letting me yap 🫶🫶(please INGORE the typos or spelling mistakes I wrote it fast + English isn't my first language :/)

okay okay so hiiiiiiii welcome to shifting and to the shifting community. and for making friends here you just usually make moots first, like interacting with other posts etc, and then it goes on naturally (and yes of course we can be friends <33333). also shifting was literally meant to find you like you were scripting before even knowing about it 😭 so real.

okay now about italy. yes im italian xxxxxxx and dont worry i wont judge ahahahaha

1. i have a guide on how to script, so you can use this to start !

2. old money is all about heritage, understated elegance, timeless style, and often seen in the form of investment pieces and a relaxed lifestyle. think about big houses in the countryside, and weekends in the most luxurious restaurants, or pubs with their friends.

3. different type of lifestyles…….

north vs south. the north, particularly regions like lombardia and piemonte, tend to be more economically advanced and have a more modern, fast-paced lifestyle compared to the south, where traditions and slower living are more prevalent.

coastal vs rural. coastal areas often have a more relaxed, tourism-focused lifestyle, while rural areas emphasize agriculture, family farms, and slower living.

city life vs village. cities like milano, roma, and firenze have a bustling, cosmopolitan atmosphere with a focus on fashion, art, and culture, while smaller villages often have a more traditional, community-oriented lifestyle.

coffee culture, la ‘dolce vita’ but mainly in the summer and spring, and search for festivals because there are so many i can’t even tell you here ahahaha (start with ‘carnevale’)

work patterns often revolve around the midday meal, with a longer lunch break that allows for a leisurely meal and socializing. common leisure activities include watching television, listening to the radio, reading newspapers.

sports like football (calcio) are everything. literally. football culture, and during the world cup….. man you are going to live the best experience of your life. in small cities you usually watch the game with everyone else in the piazza, on a big screen, drinking beer etc. it’s usually in the summer so it’s pretty warm outside.

4. social customs.

greetings. its is common for Italian friends and families to kiss on the cheek when they meet, irrespective of their gender.

teachers. stand up out of respect when the teacher enters the class… the majority of them doesn’t to that anymore, everything depends on the teacher.

5. social classes.

upper class. high-class entrepreneurs, managers, politicians, self-employed people, and high-ranking celebrities. often associated with wealth, power, and influence.

middle class. including white-collar workers (they are the majority of people), professionals, small business owners, and the self-employed. the incomes can vary, but generally represent a comfortable standard of living.

lower class. those with low-paying jobs, the unemployed, and individuals facing economic hardship. poverty, unemployment, and limited access to resources.

social structures and perceptions of social class can vary across different regions of italy. poverty is a really awful problem in italy and that’s why almost 20.000 people (me and my family included) just leave italy with no intention of coming back. its ruining the country along the government, so… you may script poverty out.

6. places to live in. honestly everything depends on what kind of life you want to live. if you want a coastal life, go in the south. in the og post i have the regions, so start by choosing one and then i can tell you some of the cities where you can go… if i know any LOL. personally i’m a small town girly :) there is where la dolce vita is. it can be boring with no friends, but the majority of time you just sit in a bench, or at a park, and just smoke, eat gelato, and gossip.

[mytardisisparked]

20 Questions for (Fanfiction) Writers

Tagged by @more-better-words; thanks bud!

1. How many works do you have on Ao3?

74!

2. What’s your total Ao3 word count

195,024. I mostly write one-shots lol.

3. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Heh, well. My top 5 of all time are fics that I wrote many years ago (this was before the weird shift we have seen recently in fandom where people are so hesitant to interact with fics) that are not great and I don't really wanna dig those up so,,,, here are my top 5 from 2024! Food for Thought

The Longest Saturday

The Art of Playing Baseball

Oh Freckle, Freckle, What Makes You So Special?

Toothbrushes

4. What fandoms do you write for?

At the moment most of what I write is The X-Files with an occasional Star Trek: Voyager fic thrown into the mix. I have written for a handful of the Star Trek shows, Star Wars, and The X-Files.

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I do! I love comments and I want to show appreciation when people leave them. I also get comments sometimes that have taken a lot of time to engage with the text and I love to chat with those people!

6. What’s the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

There's a few that I could put here, but I think The Line in the Sand might take the cake (Star Trek: Prodigy fic set in an alternate universe where Chakotay is never rescued from Ysida and... yeah. Check the tags if you decide to check this out.)

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Most of my fics have a happy (or, at least, hopeful) ending! Not sure I could really say which is the happiest.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

I've had a few comments that have been slightly rude, but not outright hateful.

9. Do you write smut?

Nope. What they do once the screen fades to black is none of my business.

10. Do you write crossovers?

I haven't, but I'm not opposed, if the right idea strikes.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not in the traditional sense, but last fall I did discover that The Audio Fanfic Podcast turned a handful of my fics into podfic without my permission. They said on a few of them that "Every attempt to reach out to this author was made. If they want it taken down they may reach out to us" and then proceeded to not leave a viable way for me to reach out to them and address the issue. On the rest of the poded fics of mine, they straight up lied and said I gave permission. I've tried reaching out and have been ignored. I think the thing that disappoints me the most is that, if they had actually asked me, I would have 100% given my consent. I'm all for accessibility in fandom and I think podfics are a fabulous idea! But, since they didn't actually reach out and then lied about it, I was pretty upset.

Anyway, if you are an X-Files or Star Trek fanfic author, you might want to go check their site to see if they have podded any of your fics without permission, too.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Not that I know of!

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Yes! I have written several Star Trek fics with @emilie786!

14. What’s your all time favorite ship?

It's so hard to answer this because it's always going to be whatever hyperfixation I am currently latched onto lol. Right now I would say Mulder/Scully (and, honestly, I'm not sure any other ship can actually compare but it is so hard to say because I am in the DEEP, DEEP depths of shipping them right now. You know what I mean?)

15. What’s the WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

Man I really HOPE I finish it at some point, but I have a multi-chap MSR casefic in the works that I have been stuck on for a long long time. I really want to but it is sooooo hard to get my brain to write longform fic. I'm not really built for it. But I still want to.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Evoking emotion? I think? Idk, I like writing really punchy one-shots under 2000 words that make readers feel something.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Longform fics. I also really struggle with describing environments sometimes, or really complex scenes with a lot of movement. And I feel like I have to drag myself through fics that I don't complete writing in one or two sittings. My attention span is a real jerk to deal with.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in a fic?

I've never done it. I think it's neat when other people do!

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Captain America: The First Avenger/Agent Carter. Somewhere on Fanfiction.net there are a couple of fics floating around, still.

20. Favorite fic you’ve ever written?

I feel like this changes a lot for me based on what kind of mood I am in, but right now I am very fond of Shirts, a fic about Scully coping with the events of "This is Not Happening" and "Deadalive."

Thnks for the tag! Some of these questions were very hard to answer.

No Pressure Tagging: @emilie786 @singeart @talshiargirlfriend and anyone else who wants to! Seriously, I am very tired at the moment and I know I'm forgetting people I have been wanting to tag in these things so if you see this please please please do it! I wanna see!

[kakiastro]

The Astrology & Numerology of the 21st Century

Hey yall! You good? I was thinking a lot about this topic lately!

So we are currently still in the early stages of this century which is from 2000-2099! A century is a 100 years, just throwing that out there in case someone didn’t know that lol.

If you were born in the 1900-1999 then you were born during the 20th century which was Pluto ruled but I’ll make another post on that a different time. We are in a new era friends!

So what does this mean?

- well let’s look at the number 21 in astrology first. 21 is ruled by the sign Sagittarius which is ruled by the planet Jupiter.

This is the highest energetic number for Sagittarius. So this tells me that we are in a high intellect humanity cycle.

So, by this century being Jupiter ruled, this means Jupiter transits is ultra important for us as a collective!

Jupiter transits last for a year, so every 12 years, Jupiter starts a new cycle.

This 100 year cycle all about:

- traveling and Imigration themes. If you’re in the US, then you’ll know 9/11 really changed how we travel forever. Even now, traveling and immigration is such a huge topic and will continue to grow. I already have 2 friends that’s moved abroad and have a few family members who’s never traveled outside of there hometowns looking into getting a visa. This also tells me, we are entering a very blended cultural family unit. It’s always been a topic but now it will be the norm. Before it was still such a taboo thing.

- foreign politics. We are going to be more aware about what’s really happening in the world and it’s not all that pretty. We are in a sharing Information Age. There’s a downside to this though because what is the truth because everyone has an opinion on everything. Is there a line in knowing too much? This is what we’re asking ourselves.

-religion/faith/the church. This is a touchy topic for many people because religion as a system hasn’t been the greatest. We are currently in a weird time because so many are leaving the church and healing religious traumas while pursuing spirituality or becoming atheist. While there’s many people who are joining the church and seeking religion and leaving spirituality. As a whole, I believe we are trying to find our purpose in anyway that we can, you know. “Who is God” to you, not what the church, your family or friends think but who is God to you 🫵🏽. This is where the lifelong personal journey begins.

-opinions. I already touched on this but everyone has something is going to have something to say which includes the willful ignorant ones. Yes, everyone has an opinion but are you ready for the pushback of your opinion? I’m already seeing this but communication is getting lost in translation in many ways. Discussing and arguing are two completely different things. You have to ask yourself, “is this topic of discussion worth my peace?” “What can I add to the discussion that can move us forward?” I can tell you right now, as a collective, we’re no where near this level of communication yet lol

-people’s beliefs and ideals are going to be shown. No more keeping things a “hush” nope, we’re not in that type of energy anymore. Be prepared to be shocked by what people believe, we shouldn’t be anymore at this point.

- the Media. I do feel like the way we consume the media such as the news journalist is also changing. I’m noticing it’s the people showcasing what’s happening due to social media. This is good and bad. On one hand, we found a way to spread the word but on the other hand , people are spreading things based on their own motives. We need to find some sort of balance between fact and opinion.

-Colleges/higher learning. I do wonder what the future of colleges going to look like especially for my home country. Enrollment has been on the decline for the past few years. People can’t afford the student debt and I think as a collective we are just tired. I do think colleges will still be around. This is just my personal prediction but I think community colleges will be on the rise and 4 year colleges on the decline, some may even be closing down.

If we break 21 down to a single digit:

2 + 1 = 3

Then we can say we are in a 3 century.

3 rules over communication, ideas, creation, zest for life, youthfulness.

3 is ruled by Jupiter in numerology. See, now we have a strong Jupiter influence.

3 Is ruled by Gemini which is ruled by Mercury in astrology. Now we have a mercurial influence as well.

Mercury rules over our thought process, how we communicate, our mental health/mental health professionals, our job profession, our daily routines, short travels

Gemini ruled over our intelligence, our brain, our schools (k-12) and teachers,our hands and lungs. Gemini rules over mirrors, aunts and uncles, cousins, our best friends, local communities and neighbors.

It’s so interesting because Gemini and Sagittarius are sister signs. They are the same but very different.

Jupiter- college education

Gemini - K-12 education

Jupiter- mass media

Gemini- local media

Jupiter: long distance travel

Gemini- short distance travel

Jupiter- mass opinions (interviews, social media)

Gemini- local opinions (friends and family)

Jupiter- foreign politician

Gemini- local hometown politician

You all get the picture lol

[fandomsniper]

so this is my take on human Caine

keep in mind that this is all my headcanons and imagination, and I'm going with the theory that he is an AI and he wasn't a human before

(again it's my hc!) also minor tw for drvg mention

so going with that logic, man is an AI, for his whole life all he was, was lines of numerical codes and suddenly he's thrown into this world and becomes a human, as we all are aware a human body needs to comply to the laws of physics, biology, etc., it has needs that need to be taken care of for it to function right which an AI in a digital world doesn't need to do so imo all of that had to mess with his head a lot, I think that there is a high possibility that he would experience some kind of body dysphoria, he would feel that this isn't HIS body, that something isn't right, something doesn't fit etc., that would be pretty logical

complete change of how his brain operates (idk what he had as an AI but let's also call it a brain lol), human body operates on five basic senses, which is something that he didn't have to submit to, the list of "senses" he had as an AI in a digital world is probably long as fuck and now he has to lean on only five basic ones? that gotta suck and be absolutely difficult (which should be obvious, imagine suddenly becoming blind or deaf, now you need to learn to operate with even less senses than you had, fucking sucks), back in the digital world he could do practically everything with little effort and now? he is limited by this human body/world and all the laws it needs to obey

still on those senses, I think they are all over the place because of the sudden change so he would be prone to sensory overloads or something like that

he literally needs to learn all social rules, written and unwritten, and overall the basis our world works on, which we had YEARS to learn about as we grew up, and yeah as an AI he had some info about humans and our world 'cause he had direct contact with us back in the digital world but it wouldn't be even close to enough to live here among us (heh) completely out of nowhere

because of all of this, I think that he would be a total train wreck and he would be very prone to fall into some unhealthy habits, like for example imo he could easily get addicted to drugs (idk what kind tho), he takes some pills and he can "get back" to his old life at least for a moment? sign him up! for that short period of time, he could feel "right" again, he could have control again [I'm also leaning towards the idea that he could develop some kind of control issues considering who he was back in the digital world as an AI], drugs give you a high which on you can imagine/hallucinate/feel a lot of things so yeah, he could easily get addicted to those, especially if his trips would revolve around him being back in his digital world, his home

and nope, it's not me projecting onto my fav character yet again, not at all (I'm a big liar)

but fr tho, I think it would make sense if he actually was an AI who was never a human and somehow he got out of the digital world with all circus crew

and I made a visual of him in a picrew! (if anyone will want it, I will drop the link to it)

I made some small adjustments in ibis paint lol, like the eye color and the roughly drawn Glasgow smile scars (for some reason it just fits him??? cause he was literally all teeth and it connected in my brain??? idk but my mental imagine of him as a human has those scars, can't do anything about it) + a bit longer lines under his eyes

he would look like he's in his really late 20's or early 30's

bonus, cause I found that t-shirt in the maker lol, Jax gave it to him

a playlist I made and some footnotes with fun hcs

he would love the movie "The Greatest Showman", can't tell me otherwise

I think he wouldn't have a specific music taste, no specific genre etc. but I think he would enjoy music from 80's and 2000's

he cried watching Bambi

his fav candy is Skittles

for the first two weeks the only thing he would eat was any variation of buttered bread, breakfast? toast with butter, dinner? buttered bread with salt, supper? toast with butter but this time with no crust, he would have continued this if Ragatha didn't step in and practically force feed him scrambled eggs one morning and then continued to do so with other foods until he stopped eating just bread

he likes Lady Gaga

he's not allowed caffeine, under any circumstances, never again, the circus gang decided that as a group

surprisingly, he enjoys horror movies

Jax showed him that one video of car driving through the hills (iykyk), he fell out of his chair

his room is very cluttered, messy but in this artsy-homey way

he picks on his skin a lot, especially when he's nervous and because of that his hands are covered in band-aids

he once saw Zooble smoke and asked if he can try, now he joins Zooble on "smoke breaks" because he picked on the habbit, Zooble kinda feels bad about it

[rollercoasterwords]

I haven't seen many horror films and would like some recommendations. What are some must-watch horror movies for someone new to the genre?

oooh this is such a fun question but so hard 2 answer bc horror is like. such a versatile genre & where u should start depends a lot on like what type of movies u enjoy/what ur looking for….

like if u want sci-fi/alien horror then the obvious place 2 start is w alien (1979) and aliens (1986) (there are other sequels as well but the first 2 are the best) & then also the thing (1982) and its prequel film that came out in 2011 (also titled the thing). AND of course the fly (1986) is a must-see...and if u want something more recent nope (2022) or no one will save you (2023)...both a little more artsy and slow-moving than the 80s recs on this list but very very good <3

if ur interested in slashers then again start w the classics scream (1996) is SO fun it deserves its spot in the horror hall of fame...i know what you did last summer (1997) is also a fun & slightly older slasher; cabin in the woods (2011) is great if u want some meta-slasher-horror; ready or not (2019) isn't necessarily a conventional slasher but i'd still include it in this category & it's one of my faves

if found footage is ur jam PLEASE start w creep (2014) probably my fave found footage horror film ever...but also i'm not a huge found footage fan generally speaking lol. that being said the blair witch project (1999) is of course the classic here but it's not my personal fave; other good options if u want something genuinely freaky/scary are the bay (2012) hell house llc (2015) and gonjiam: haunted asylum (2018)

if u want like possessions & demons etc then. start with jennifer's body (2009) if u want horror-comedy it is SO fun & a staple of the genre atp but if u want something scarier then it follows (2014) is a popular one. there have also been a lot of good possesion movies coming out recently i thought smile (2022) talk to me (2022) and when evil lurks (2023) (<- literally JUST watched this one today lol) were all quite spooky

& sort of possession-adjacent but if ur more into hauntings, ghosts, etc then start w the babadook (2014) or his house (2020) both SO good. also the shining (1980) is a classic & la llorona (2019) is a personal fave of mine (NOT. the u.s. 'curse of la llorona' movie. the guatemalan one.)

if u want witches then start w the craft (1996) another sort of fun one <3 or if u want a classic then hungry wives (1972). the love witch (2016) if u want a visually beautiful & less scary one; the witch (2015) if u want a scarier one.

if u want eerie fantasy-horror then the company of wolves (1984) or tale of tales (2015). if u want a creature feature then blood red sky (2021) for vampires, ginger snaps (2000) for werewolves, and a quiet place (2018) for like post-apocalyptic creature invasion horror.

& SPEAKING of post-apocalyptic. if u want zombies i could make a whole separate post but. START w train to busan (2016) & seoul station (2016) the dynamic duo <3 & then if u want some classics from the genre of course night of the living dead (1968), dawn of the dead (2004...i haven't seen the original one u could watch that one too tho...), and 28 days later (2002). raw (2016) if u want an artsier one, the girl with all the gifts (2016) if u want a fun spin on zombie apocalypse, cargo (2017) if u want 2 cry. & if u want something funny then PLEASE watch zombie for sale (2019) or anna and the apocalypse (2017) or one cut of the dead (2017)

if u want kind of a slower-build psychological thriller then the invitation (2015) is one of my faves, but mother! (2017) is also good if u want an artsy pick & gerald's game (2017) and lyle (2014) are good as well

and then just a grab-bag of horror movies that didn't fit perfectly into any of these categories: barbarian (2022) if u want something really scary, piggy (2022) if u want slow-building horror, midsommar (2019) if u want sunshiney culty a24 aesthetic, us (2019) if u want something that'll freak u out & is slasher-adjacent, get out (2017) if u want slow-build thriller vibes, and teeth (2007) if u want teen-girl horror classic.

bear in mind that many of these films overlap between the categories i've divided them into 4 this answer, as is the nature of horror...if u were asking me 2 just like. force myself 2 choose a top 10 horror movies 2 introduce someone 2 horror w no preference 4 genre or vibe...i think my list would probably be (in no particular order):

alien (1979)

2. the fly (1986)

3. jennifer's body (2009)

4. ginger snaps (2000)

5. train to busan (2016) (<- pains me 2 say bc seoul station is my fave zombie movie of all time but if i had 2 choose just one zombie movie 2 introduce someone 2 the genre it would be this one...beginner zombie movie...)

6. scream (1996)

7. his house (2020)

8. barbarian (2022)

9. creep (2014)

10. us (2019)

[purplesurveys]

Happy 2000! :)

Does it irritate you when people are late for things, or do you not really care? It does get annoying, yeah - especially when what they're late for stuff that involves A LOT a lot a lot of people. I availed a shuttle service going to Jiyong's concert last month and there was one dipshit who held us all up because they were nowhere near the meetup point by the time we were scheduled to leave. At the end we ended up waiting for her so it delayed our departure for a bit.

Are you nervous about anything? I'm always nervous for Mondays since I never know what the work week would bring.

Is your bed against more than one of your walls? It's against three walls, so yes.

When was the last time someone chased you with a hose? Hasn't happened since I was a kid/in my early teens.

Have you ever burned yourself while taking something out of the oven? Hasn't happened, but that's also because I don't cook/bake, lol. I've burned myself accidentally other ways.

Do you think seeing a gay/lesbian couple in public is gross? No not at all.

Have you ever made out in your room? Last time? Yeah but it's been like 5 or 6 years, basically not since my last relationship.

Don’t you just hate running into people you know? It depends. There are people I'd genuinely say hi to, and others I wish I could avoid.

Who is the last person that disappointed you? I don't feel disappointed by people lately anymore... I feel this more frequently with, like, scenarios. Like how I was disappointed with how badly BTS Festa was organized this year! OMG I went to Day 1 and we spent around 3.5 hours in line, only to spend ~45 minutes inside since the entire place was full of fucking lines anyway + by the time we got in, all the booths were about to close.

I heard Day 2 was much more organized which just makes me annoyed, and all in all I left with the impression that Festa is probably just overhyped and I'm not sure I want to repeat it again any time soon :(

Have you ever felt like you hit rock bottom? More than once yeah absolutely.

What are you going to have for dinner tonight? I'm not sure yet.

Do you think the last person you kissed cares about you? No, I don't even know his name lmao.

Have you ever sold your old clothes instead of donating them? Nope.

Does your favorite mall have more than one floor? All malls here as far as I know have at least two floors.

Do you have a crazy aunt? Little bit, yeah. She has a strong personality that has definitely crossed the border of 'crazy' in the past.

Do you like family get togethers? I do like them because it means I get to have lots of food lol. Catching up with relatives is a bonus but really, I get the most stoked about the food hahahaha.

Have you ever been to an art museum? Lots.

Would you kiss the last guy/girl that texted you? I can't remember who texted me last but I'll go ahead and say no.

Have you ever injured yourself while you were under the influence of alcohol? I have actually. I missed a stair step and sprained my ankle. A night supposedly for bar-hopping ended up with my friends having to nurse my foot, so in exchange I let them make fun of me and take photos/videos of me the entire evening lol.

Will you talk to the person you love/like tonight? I'm not involved with anyone romantically.

Are you still with the person you fell hardest for? If not, do you ever miss them? No. No.

Do you think you’ll kiss someone tonight? Nope.

Have you ever kissed anyone with the last name Jones? As far as I know, no.

Is it possible to be ‘in love’ with someone, if they don’t love you back? Yes, it's happened to me.

How many times have you cried in the past week? So many times lmao, it's been an emotional last few days. Just to share, I actually just got back from South Korea – it served both as a trip I've been planning for the last three years; but also as a promise to BTS that I will be in Korea the day they come back as 7. The whole trip was bound to be tear-filled from the start lmao, and it was.

I definitely cried a few times but I think the most notable ones were when I went to Festa and they did the Mikrokosmos light show with all the ARMY bombs (6/13) + when Hobi cried during HOTS Finale Day 2, which was the show I went to (6/14). I also cried yesterday because it was the day of Yoongi's discharge and I didn't expect him to pen such a sweet and poignant letter on Weverse lol.

If you could have one wish right now, what would it be? To earn my money back because goddamn Seoul is a black hole of CONSUMERISM

[kay9leo]

#MCtober2024 -Meet Iñaki "MC" Martinez Cariaga

Based on @lamieboo's #MCtober2024 event (click on #MCtober for more info).

Note that she's from a Hogwarts Legacy AU that takes place in the late 2000s. Hence why she says Dungeon Snakes Rulez! (if you don't get the reference, it's from Fallout 3). She goes by "MC" since she doesn't want people to call her by her entire double surname. She's also trying to mimic that Spiderman graveyard meme pose here lol.

Iñaki hates potions in the US not because she's bad at it, but because of how careful and focused she tries to be to do well in the class. However, in the UK, she hate History of Magic due to Professor Binns. She loves Ancient Runes and DADA with Professor Hecat being her favorite due to the fact all the things they do in class matter for real life as well. That and she finds Hecat to be a cool teacher Professor.

Iñaki also tends to keep her wand in her hair bun. Most people think that's just a hair stick holding her hair up. Nope, just her wand lol.(More on Iñaki below the cut.)

Originally when she came to Hogwarts, she and Fig were late to the point that they missed her sorting and she was houseless for a week before she was allowed to be sorted.

In that time, she ended up befriending Amit, Poppy, Natsai and Garreth. She didn't care much for Sebastian, finding him too cocky during their first duel in DADA. While Iñaki found it easy to befriend people from the other houses, Slytherins didn't seem as opened to making friends.

Which would work in her favor.

When it came time to be sorted, Iñaki had a plan.

Seeing that she wasn't really going to be in Hogwarts/the U.K. for that long (3 years at most, a year at the least -which is something that she hopes for), Iñaki figured there was no point avoiding the invertible and just limit her interactions with people that she liked. She already had a hard time saying goodbye to her former friends when she temporarily moved to the U.K., she wasn't going to go through that again when she would finally move back home to the U.S. permanently.

When the sorting hat was placed on her head, she was a hat stall for either Gryffindor or Hufflepuff (to most people's surprise when they learned about it). She asked the hat to place her in Slytherin and had to convince the hat as to why. Iñaki would spend 5 minutes on the stool making her case as to why she should join the den of the snakes and ultimately the hat allows her to join Slytherin.

(The hat was impressed by her ambition to not make friends and trying to leave Hogwarts without leaving her own mark on the place or vice versa).

However, before the hat made its decision, it gave her a piece of advice saying:"...things aren't always as they seem. Take a moment to step back and see things as they are and not as you wish.", before it yelled out: SLYTHERIN.

It was a huge surprise to everyone since most people thought she would either be a Lion or a Badger due to her personality. There were even some bets about her being an Eagle, but barely anyone betted on her being a Snake.

Unfortunately for Iñaki, she didn't account certain variables for her plan to remain friendless in the den of snakes. Not with Imelda, Ominis and especially Sebastian as her housemates.

....

More on Iñaki "MC" Martinez Cariaga

[fizzingwizard]

rant

Over this past month I had an unpleasant experience with a seller on Mercari. It's the first time something like this has happened. Basically, they mailed my purchase, and a notice of absence was left as usual. But it never got to me.

Of course it's possible I threw out the slip without noticing. However, in the same time frame I received notices for two other purchases, and received both that package and another from a different Mercari seller. I don't believe I missed the notice because since I had three packages on he way, I was checking every day. It has happened in the past that I got mail meant for someone else in my apartment building. Idk. There's no way to prove one way or another what happened, but the seller was irate, even though the package was returned to them and I offered to pay the cost of shipping. They claim they reported me to Mercari three times yeesh. (They never would have survived on ebay in the 2000s lol)

It was all very unpleasant. They made no effort at all to see things from my side. I apologized nonstop, firstly for being a foreigner (he understood all of my Japanese! It might not be perfect but he never once had to ask me for a clarification, yet he was quick to cry "GAIJIN!" and also he kept asking to talk to my husband lol. And then he said he didn't know I was a foreigner??? Even though my name is obviously a foreigner's name...)

Secondly, for having a totally different set of expectations - I have never had a lasting conversation with a seller before, but this seller expected me to talk to him every day, multiple times. I kept wanting to just cancel the order and lose the money because he was so insistent on talking, even though there was nothing that could be done? And I wish I had just done it. I was like oh, that's not fair, this guy might lose out too and I might hurt my rep on the site, let's wait just a little longer... But I should have trusted my gut. This "conversation" went on for THREE WEEKS with no results.

At last, we were waiting for the results of the post office investigation, which would take two weeks, and I was busy at work, so for a few days I didn't look at Mercari. Nothing had happened for three weeks!! We have a bunch of events going on and are understaffed and I have been just working and sleeping. So I looked at Mercari on Tuesday, said "Okay, I will wait two weeks," (again, after three weeks of nothing!) and then not again until Sunday. Well, the investigation did not take two weeks. It somehow took only a few days. So between Tuesday night and Sunday, the seller found the package, and told me to reply to him about whether I wanted to pay for him to ship it again or not by the next day, or he would report me. The next day he reported me. The next day I looked at my messages and was floored. Yeesh. Where did this desperation come from all of a sudden. While I was wondering where my money had disappeared to, with no proof that anything had ever been shipped for real, all he had to say was "It might take longer because it's coming from [prefecture not near me]." He blamed the post office for losing things and even blamed my (nonexistent!!!) husband for stealing my packages!

Anyway, the fact is he did sent the package, but I did not get the notice about it. Whether that was due to me overlooking it or it got put in the wrong mailbox or was dropped or who knows why, we will never know. I didn't do it on purpose. And even though I understand not getting a quick reply when you want it is frustrating, he got consistent replies from me every single day until *he* told me to wait two weeks. I even thought that by not looking at mercari every day, I would be taking pressure off of him! Nope. He wanted me glued to that screen. He wasn't going to lose any money or goods by my lack of promptness to the message I thought wouldn't come for at least another week. But he took it upon himself to give me a deadline, of the next day, with no warning that he even intended to do something like that.

Finally I told him I was canceling the order. Guess what this guy did? First he told me he agreed we should cancel it as well. Then, since he apparently lives on Mercari, he canceled it himself! I literally started applying to cancel the moment he agreed, but he is just that fast and even though I told him I would do it, he wasted my time and did it himself. I should have rejected the cancellation because I did not agree with how he explained the reason for it (blamed me) but I was worried, since he claims he reported me three times, that rejecting the cancellation and then cancelling myself would look bad. Now I wish I had done it though. Anyway, I've blocked that guy, he can go fuck himself with his mountain of McDonald's Lupin III toys lol.

Of course the money came back to me buuut as Mercari points... So I have to console myself by buying something else on Mercari. Fingers crossed. If the same thing happens I swear I will cry. But not only have I used Mercari many times before without an issue, I've also received mail and packages in Japan for ten years without a single issue. This is an outlier so I'm gonna go forward like it never happened. Also I learned a few things I didn't know about Mercari, like that sellers can upload pictures to their listings of things they are not actually selling, so in the future I'll be a little less confused if this sort of thing happens again. (The seller told me he would put up a picture of the package receipt for me, but never told me he did it. When I asked why he hadn't posted it, he got upset with me because he had posted it... to his listings. I didn't imagine something with personal information on it would be in his listings! He had posted it with the personal info blacked out, which makes sense but also made the receipt useless to me since the point was so I could open an investigation from my end too. *eye roll* But you know what, I would have found it if he'd said specifically it was there. I'm not even 100% convinced it was actually there, because I did in fact look only because I couldn't figure out where else it could possibly be, but I didn't see anything that looked like a receipt. Then, after I complained, suddenly it was right there in the top row. *shrug* He may have uploaded it just like he said, but he didn't tell me when he did so I had no way of knowing.)

It is an insignificant moment of my life but I feel better getting it off my chest lol. And I definitely will just cancel and block people in the future if this sort of thing happens. I was so worried about hurting someone else's ratings unfairly or my own that I wanted to stick it out as long as possible, but clearly that put me at the seller's mercy. Next time I'll do what I want and if it gets me suspended then Idk. We'll cross that bridge if we ever come to it.

[inwintersolitude]

- April 9th 2025 -

Survey About Where You Live

Do you live in a house, townhouse, apartment, trailer, etc.? House.

Do you live in the city, country, suburbs? I'd call it an "exurb." It's a town that's on the very edge of a metropolitan area, but not really part of the suburbs.

Do you live in a small town? It's a medium-sized town.

Do you live in a fairly new housing plan? It's not brand new, but not super old either. Most houses in the neighborhood were built in the late 90s to mid 2000s.

Do you have a lot of neighbors? There are a lot of houses in this neighborhood, probably over 100, but it's spread out and the properties are about 1/3 to 3/4 acre so it's not like there's a ton of neighbors living on top of each other.

Do you like your neighbors? Yes, everyone I've met has been really nice.

Do you have a lot of neighbors your age? No, I don't think so. It seems like most people here are in their 40s-60s. My husband and I are in our mid-30s and we're the youngest people on the street.

Is there a mall where you live? No, not in this town, but there are two malls that are each about 25 minutes away.

Is there a lot to do where you live? There's more to do here than you'd expect in a town this size. There's a historic downtown with lots of little shops and restaurants, tons of parks, hiking/mountain biking trails, the farmer's market in the summer, an arcade, indoor gokarts, bowling… that's about all I can think of.

Do you live near the beach? Not really. The nearest beach is about 45 minutes away.

Do you live near water? Yeah, there are a lot of ponds and lakes and creeks nearby.

Do you live near woods? Yes.

Does a lot of your family live within 15-20 minutes of you? Yeah, my brother and sister-in-law and nephews live about 5 minutes away. And my parents live about 40 minutes away.

Does a lot of your family live within an hour of you? ^

What state, county, city, do you live in? Ohio, United States.

How long have you lived in that area? I've lived in this town for 3.5 years. And I lived in other parts of Northeast Ohio from 1993 til 2013, when my husband and I moved to Northern Virginia.

Does where you live attract a lot of tourists? Just a very small amount, mostly for that weird/niche little museum in town.

Do you like where you live? Yes.

Your House

What kind of house do you live in? Single family house. It's sort of a center-hall colonial revival type of architectural style, maybe a bit Georgian revival.

How many stories is it? Two stories plus a basement.

What color is the outside? Off-white.

Are there bricks? No. I think it would look awesome if it had a brick exterior, though. That would definitely make it have more of a Georgian revival style.

Do you have a big yard? It's about 1/3 acre, so not huge but not tiny either.

Do you have a pool? Nope. I'll never understand why people bother with pools in this climate. It's too cold the majority of the year. A few of our neighbors have pools and it just seems like more upkeep than it's worth.

Do you have a hot tub? No.

Do you have a fence? Yes, the back yard is fenced in.

Is there a sidewalk? Yes.

Are there steps leading up to your front door? Just a few.

Do you have a front porch? Just a small one.

Do you have a deck? Yes.

How many windows are in the front of your house? 11.

Is there a rec. center in your neighborhood? No.

Are you outside a lot? It depends on the weather. I like to go on walks around the neighborhood when it’s nice out.

Are there windows on the sides of the house? Yes.

Is your house close to a main road? It's about half a mile away from the main road into town.

Do you have a big driveway? It's two cars wide, three cars deep. Not tiny, but not huge either.

The Inside

How many rooms are on the first floor? Eight. There's the main foyer, the formal sitting room, the dining room, the family room, the kitchen, a half bath, the laundry room, and the office (but we call it the bird room since it's for our bird lol).

How many rooms are on the second floor? Six. Four bedrooms, the primary bathroom, and the hall bathroom.

How many flights of stairs are there? Two. One going upstairs, and one going down to the basement.

How many bedrooms? Four.

How many bathrooms? Three.

Do you have a basement? Yes.

Do you have a garage? Yes.

A dining room? Yes.

A family room? Yes.

A game room? We use one of the spare bedrooms as a game room/media room.

Do you have any other cool rooms such as movie theatres or salons? Yep, there's the aforementioned game room, and we also have a home gym in the basement. It's just cardio equipment at the moment (elliptical, recumbent bike, stationary bike, treadmill) but we'll eventually add some weights.

In your kitchen, is there hardwood floors or tile? Tile. I’d prefer hardwood, though. During the home inspection, the inspector was oohing and aahing over the "high-end ceramic tile" that the previous owners installed, and I was just like… meh I don't like it THAT much.

Is there always a lot of food? Yes. But I'm mildly into prepping, I always have about 6 weeks worth of food on hand.

Is there any alcohol in your house? Yes, we still have the bottle of champagne that our realtor gifted us when we bought the house.

Do you have a big refrigerator? It's a standard sized fridge.

Living Room

What color are the walls? Beige.

What color is the carpet? The floors are dark brown hardwood. And there's an area rug that's mostly navy blue but also has some tan and sage green.

How many couches are there? We have one big sectional couch.

How many recliners? None.

How many chairs total? No other chairs yet. I want to get a big swivel armchair but I just haven't found the right one yet.

How big is your TV? 60 inches.

Is there a computer in the living room? No. I use my main laptop in either the office or the kitchen. And all the other computers are in the game room.

Is your dining room connected? The dining room is connected to the kitchen and the front foyer.

Is your family room connected? Yeah, it's connected to the kitchen, and there are double pocket doors that connect it to the formal sitting room.

How many pictures are on the walls? A few.

Is there an entertainment center? No, just a regular TV stand. We don't do much TV-watching in the family room, though. Mostly in the game room.

Are there a lot of other decorations on the walls? There are decorations, but not a lot. I don’t like walls to be overcrowded with decor.

Your Room

What size is your bed? The bed in my own bedroom (where I usually sleep) is a twin-size daybed, and the bed in my husband's room (where I sleep the rest of the time) is a queen.

What color are the walls? Beige.

What color is the carpet? Off-white.

Are there hardwood floors? No, the bedrooms are carpeted, but there are hardwood floors in the upstairs hallway.

Are there any rugs? No.

How many windows are there? In my bedroom? Two.

Do you have a TV in your room? No.

Do you have a computer in your room? No. Unless I bring my laptop in there, but that’s not very often.

Do you have any game systems? They’re all in the game room.

Do you have a dvd player? It’s in the game room.

Do you have your own phone? LOL yes of course.

Do you share your room with anyone? My husband and I sometimes sleep in the same room. But we usually sleep in our separate bedrooms, because of his weird work schedule and my insomnia and VERY different mattress/pillow requirements (thanks to my fucked up back/neck/jaw).

Do you have a bunk-bed? Haha no.

How many pictures are on the walls? A few.

What else is on the walls? Some wall art. And on the door from my bathroom into my closet, I have a big poster of a capybara that says "Don't worry, be cappy!"

How many chairs do you have in your room? I have a recliner in there.

What is the square footage? The whole house is just under 4,000 square feet. Around 3,300 if you don't count the unfinished storage rooms in the basement.

Do you have a lot of cds? Nope. Just a few software CDs.

Is there anything else in your room? There's a dresser and a nightstand.

Do you have a walk-in closet? Yes.

Do you have your own bathroom? Yep, I use the bathroom in the main suite, and my husband uses the bathroom that's across the hall from his bedroom.

Do you have a clock? Not in my bedroom. There’s one in the sitting room, and also one in the game room.

Some Other Questions

How many phones are in your house? There’s the two cell phones my husband and I have, and we also still have a bunch of our old ones.

How many TVs? Three, but one is just an old CRT TV from the 90s and we only ever use it when playing our Nintendo 64.

How many dvd players? One.

How many computers? Uhhh, kind of a lot. I have my main laptop, my new MacBook that I haven't even opened yet, my Granddad's old MacBook, my husband's MacBook, my Lenovo gaming laptop, the gaming desktop, and an old Macintosh Performa that we use for retro gaming.

Did you like this survey? Sure.

[ihavedonenothingright]

heyo! curious, what’re you most excited about in your newest WIP? or in any of them lol? what’s the hardest parts? the funnest parts?

I hope you know you've given me an open license to ramble.

In terms of things I'm most excited for, I am currently getting back into one of my original WIPs I started a few years ago, and I can't wait to write the dynamic between the two main characters. Neither of them possess a sense of self preservation, and they're reliant on each other for two (equally unhealthy) reasons: one just needs any source of support because they're embarking on a self-assigned death mission out of a somewhat selfish desire to flee some stuff going on at home, and one just needs to be needed by anyone at all, and doesn't care if they're being used. They're my toxic QPR and I love them <3

For hardest... definitely my Shink WIP "Untethered." That one's just giving me a lot of trouble right now. Mainly because I'm writing a confrontation scene and it's emotionally tense, but I made some progress today! So now I should be able to get back to the stuff I'm good at relatively shortly. I am super excited to write an upcoming scene between The Boys which I've been referring to as "the reunion." The way I'm describing this might lead certain people to think I have way more of this WIP done than I do, but nope! Chapter 3/uhhhhhhh babeyyy. Though hopefully I'll be able to start posting it in July.

And for funniest... I'm currently working on another original WIP of mine that's actually vaguely LOZ adjacent—in that it's inspired by LOZ fandom. I wrote a short story a few months ago based on late 2000s- early 2010s FF.net culture, and that has become a fully fledged novel about the biggest fan of an abandoned fic and the fic's author getting yeeted by *checks notes* Arbiters United (I'm really subtle) into the fic itself to fix it to their standards from the inside out. Said author is none too happy considering they wrote the damn thing when they were like sixteen, and it's been fifteen whole years while the reader is even less enthused to be surviving the angst-laden plot of a fic from 2007. They're very pissy at each other. It's fun.

I hope that answered your question!

[paradoxcase]

Gideon the Ninth audiobook reactions

I listened for a little over an hour, to the end of Chapter 3, and so far it's been great. It's a little odd making notes for what I think about it though - with the ebook I could visually skim over what I read before and take specific screenshots and everything, currently I've just been taking notes in a text editor and it's a little awkward. I had to look back at the pronunciation guide, which was also a little awkward, since the audiobooks are on my linux partition now and the Nook app is on Windows, so I keep having to reboot. I think I decided that for my next computer I'm not going to partition and will just run linux in VM

Anyway, for the name pronunciations:

Nonagesimus: Yeah, that pronunciation is going to bother me, but realistically I think she is going to be saying it so often that I'll just get used it it

Aiglamene: This was stressed on a syllable I didn't expect, but after consulting the pronunciation guide, that is how it was described and I was just wrong. Woe

Glaurica: Not how I pronounced the au. I note there's no instruction in the pronunciation guide about how to pronounce the au, the "phonetic" spelling also just says "au"

Palamedes: Also stressed on a syllable I didn't choose, but I knew full well that that was how the pronunciation guide said to pronounce it and was just in denial. I don't know if I'll get used to this one, we'll have to see

Character voice opinions:

I love Crux, he sounds kind of like Locked Tomb Gollum who doesn't double-mark plurals

I always headcanoned Gideon as having a low voice, probably because I have a low voice I want to see more representation for women with naturally low voices, this audiobook is not giving me that and I just have to accept it. Otherwise it's pretty good, although it's not always distinct from the narration

Aiglamene's voice is perfect

Harrow is also pretty good, but I'm curious if it will change when the main person she's interacting with is Ianthe, because right now it's very aristocratic and I feel like that would sort of overshadow Ianthe being even more aristocratic

The Glaurica voice was great

I'm not sure how I feel about Ortus's voice, but I guess I'll have to wait for the next book to reassess that first impression, since Ortus is now officially gone for the next 16 hours

Just regular stuff about the text that is hitting different a second time:

The Eighth House being described as "The Forgiving House" in the Dramatis Personae made me go "lol nope". Also it feels like a, uh, call-forward, I guess, to Mercy talking about forgiving John

The book opens in the year 10,000. I remember being Gideon and Harrow's age when we got to the year 2000, and we were all having endless arguments about whether the millennium actually began in 2000, or 2001. Why are none of the nerdy young people in this book getting really overinvested in the question of what is the actual first year of the myriad? I can see Harrow and Gideon having an incredibly violent argument about this and it would have been a great callback to some early aughts culture, which is something this book absolutely loves to do

Not really hitting different, but even after reading the whole thing I am still mystified by Gideon's apparent knowledge of Pluto's seasons

At some point it said "they chipped her". Did they put a tracking chip in Gideon, like you do with a cat?

Harrow says "I swear by my mother I have nothing on me" but Gideon was asking her to confirm that it was a fair fight, and it absolutely wasn't, haha

"My parents should have suffocated you" followed by "I'd like to see them try that now." Oof

Harrow saying "my parents have been waiting long enough" at the end of Chapter 2 hits a bit different when you already know at this point that they are dead and its their zombies that are waiting to be puppeted by Harrow. And everyone in the room knows this, she's not like pretending her parents are still alive for the benefit of some random nuns who aren't in the know

"In the Ninth everyone knew [cavaliers] were chosen for how many bones [they] could hump around" - I remember last time someone filled me in on this after Gideon's fight with Naberius and someone else said it was a spoiler, but it's actually stated quite plainly in Chapter 3